Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has
described pipeline vandals as terrorists who should be severely dealt with and
not tolerated.
Osinbajo ascribes the unprecedented power cuts that has been
experienced in the country in recent times to the January 14, 2016, sabotage on
the pipeline at Forcados.
Says the federal government will deploy sophisticated
weapons to contain pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta region.
Vice President
Yemi Osinbajo has urged all Nigerians to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s
resolve to give the Boko Haram treatment to vandals of oil and gas facilities
in the Niger Delta
According to Leadership, the vice president who
made the comment in Warri after visiting the strategic gas pipeline at Forcados
export terminal in Burutu council area of Delta state described vandals as
terrorists who should be severely dealt with and not tolerated.
He ascribed the
unprecedented power cuts that has been experienced in the country in recent
times to the January 14, 2016, sabotage on the pipeline at Forcados.
Osinbajo
said: “As you know, pipelines vandals are probably as bad as any type of
terrorists or saboteurs and the danger posed to lives caused by pipelines
vandals. All of us must agree with the president that the vandals must be
treated with the most severe manner and should not be tolerated at all. “So, I
agree entirely that pipelines vandals should not be tolerated under no circumstances.
“Aside from the gas problem, there is also the problem of losing thousands of
barrels of production. We are not able to produce as much as we ought to. About
250,000 barrels are lost per day. We are losing large sums of money daily. We
look for alternative, while we look to repair the pipelines.
“We would have to deploy even
sophisticated weapons to ensure we contain the vandalism, overhaul security and
permanent pipeline security force might also be an option to look at.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Navy recorded a breakthrough in its undercover
operations when it uncovered a major illegal oil bunkering site at an abandoned
warehouse in Ogbogoro area of Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers state
a suburb of Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital. Commodore Sanusi Ibrahim,
the commandant of the Nigeria Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder in Port Harcourt, who
led journalists to the illegal site on Thursday, April 14, said five persons
including an Engine Repairer were arrested at the scene.
Commodore Sanusi
Ibrahim represented by the Base Operation Officer, Lieutenant Commodore Sunday
Katuka Haruna said over five hundred drums loaded with illegally refined
petroleum products were seen at the site.
President Yemi Osinbajo has urged all Nigerians to support
President Muhammadu Buhari’s resolve to give the Boko Haram treatment to
vandals of oil and gas facilities in the Niger Delta.