BEVERLY HILLS, May 26, (THEWILL) – The Federal Government and stakeholders from the Niger-Delta region have agreed to work together to stop the incessant attacks on oil and gas installations in the area and ensure security, stability and economic development of the area.
This was contained in a statement from Garba Deen Mohammed, Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) which disclosed that the duo had resolved, amongst other things, that the host communities take charge of securing the assets.
The statement added that Ibe Kachikwu, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Group Managing Director of the NNPC, after the meeting on Thursday, in Abuja, expressed the Federal Government’s readiness to check the resurgence of pipeline sabotage in the region.
“The Niger Delta governors must be involved in providing lasting solutions to the resurgence of pipeline vandalism and there is urgent need to create business opportunities for the locals in the region,” Kachikwu stated.
Kachikwu declared that the stakeholders resolved that solutions to the incessant attacks on oil and gas pipelines are within the communities and all the states in the region would nominate four or five representatives that would work hand-in-hand with security agencies to secure oil facilities in their respective states.
He further stated that it was resolved that violence was not an option in resolving the problems of the Niger Delta and that all threats from the region should end henceforth while stressing the need to restructure the amnesty programme so as to address the critical issue of neglect by the government and international oil companies.
Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, other leaders of the Niger-Delta region and the stakeholders, who spoke at the meeting, urged the militants to drop their arms and embrace dialogue saying the Federal Government was committed to the development of the area.
