…move ‘ll cause massive job loss, taxes, reawaken restiveness,
…warns may reconsider May 2014 unilateral ceasefire
Key militant group in the Niger Delta region, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) is speaking for the first on the recent rumoured relocation of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to Lagos, from the Niger Delta, a region it has operated for more than half a century.
For MEND, “we are alarmed over media reports of the planned or rumoured relocation of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) back to Lagos from Port Harcourt, Rivers State.”
According to Jomo Gbomo, spokesperson for the militant group in an emailed statement to the media, copied BusinessDay, the Niger Delta was no longer hostile to business operation, especially oil production.
Gbomo noted that Shell’s planned relocation to Lagos, from Port Harcourt, would spell doom for the oil-rich region.
“Quite apart from the massive loss of jobs, opportunities, taxes and other incentives the planned move would cause in the medium to short term, it is clear to all stakeholders, including the Federal Government, that such a move is ill advised,” MEND said.
The group said the Shell relocation move also runs contrary against the backdrop of the recent directive from the Federal Government to the International Oil Companies (IOCs), to relocate to their areas of operation in the Niger Delta.
“To be sure, the Niger Delta region is no longer hostile to the business interests of the IOCs, including SPDC, as peace has since returned to the area; following the enervating efforts of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), the various State Governments, as well as the Federal Government. There is therefore, no reason whatsoever for SPDC to relocate back to Lagos,” the militant group said.
Meanwhile, it has warned that it might reconsider its May 30, 2014 unilateral ceasefire, should the Anglo-Dutch oil giant make good its planned move out of Pert Harcourt.
“We use this opportunity to warn that we shall reconsider the unilateral ceasefire of May 30, 2014 if SPDC relocates back to Lagos.”
Key commanders of the MEND had in 2009 largely accepted a Federal Government amnesty offer, thereby weakening the group. However, pockets of attacks continued by some of its foot fighters until May, 2014, when the group formally announced a unilateral indefinite ceasefire.
However, new groups emerged between 2015 and last year, major among which was Niger Delta Avengers (NDA). Its dangerous attacks on the nation’s oil facilities had reduced Nigeria’s oil production to about 1.6 million barrels per day (mbpd), from about 2.2 mbpd.
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