Military says ready for oil rig vandals, as stakeholders condemn carnage, preach caution

The defence headquarters (DHQ)  has vowed to contain the resurgence of militant activities in the Niger Delta region.

The determination is coming on the heels of the bombing  of an oil facility by a group that goes by the name Niger Delta Avengers.

Speaking in an exclusive telephone conversation with BusinessDay,the   director of Defence information, Brig- Gen.Rabe Abubakar, said the military will not fold its arms and allow criminal elements hold the nation to ransom.

“The world has seen. We will remain focused, we will continue to restrategies and plan. At an appropriate time the military will respond.

“What they are doing is criminal. As a matter of fact, they are not militants and they don’t mean well for their region.

“We are doing everything to make sure that those who are responsible for the bombing are brought to book. And we are collaborating with other security agencies.”

“Government cannot fold their hands and allow lawlessness to prevail. Of course, peaceful resolution is always the best. You don’t want to declare war against your own people. The essence of democracy is that we need to be able to negotiate our differences but if it borders on criminality, you cannot negotiate with a criminal. The moment you negotiate with criminals, you are literally rendering your country ungovernable,” says Wunmi Iledare, professor of Petroleum Economics and Policy Research and the Director of Energy Information Division of the Center for Energy Studies.

Also Ibilola Amao, an oil and gas human capacity development expert says, “Nigeria needs to resolve her communal issues, educate and enlighten the boys in the creeks. If people creating value are not rewarded more than figure head leaders, we would continue to have unstable environments breeding destructive elements.

“Nigeria can tackle this challenge by ensuring proper implementation of the amnesty programme and engage the community people in a productive process in their environment,” says Henry Biose,  petroleum economics, management and policy researcher at Emerald Institute for petroleum and energy economics, policy strategy, University of Port Harcourt.

Attacks on oil and gas installations in the Niger Delta are threatening to further  reduce Nigeria’s crude oil production of 1.6million barrels per day. Hope that a rise of crude oil prices to $45 per barrel will reduce revenue shortfalls are being blighted by recent upsurge in militant activities.

Bombings of the Forcados pipeline that conveys Forcados grade of crude oil to the over 400,000 barrels per day  in March disrupted crude oil flows to the export terminal resulted in a loss of over $12.3m going by the rate of $41 per barrel in March.

ODINAKA ANUDU