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Imo illegal refinery fire due to inadequate policing, says PENGASSAN

Imo

By Joy Obakeye

President of the Petroleum and Natural GAS Senior Staff Association Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Comrade Festus Osifo, has stressed the need for Nigeria to increase its police personnel to address incidences like the Imo illegal refinery.

Comrade Osifo, who spoke at a media parley with Labour Writers Association of Nigeria (LAWAN) on Tuesday, noted that such incidences wouldn’t have occurred if the Nigeria police force and other sister agencies, had enough manpower to man areas like where the illegal refinery was located.

Recall that the fire which engulfed the illegal crude oil refinery complex in Abaezi forest, in the Ohaji-Egbema Local Government Area of Imo State, has killed over hundred people.

The State Commissioner for Petroleum Resources, Goodluck Opiah, who spoke on behalf of Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State during his visit to the scene, said the fire claimed the lives of a large number of young people.

According to Osifo, “this is a failure on the part of the government and they cannot say they don’t know where the illegal refineries are situated in the country.”

He stressed that the government has the power to stop illegal refineries if it desires to do so.

The union also advocated for the decentralization of the Nigerian police force.

Osifo asserted that where there is no security there would be no growth or investment either local or international and that this will result in a high rate of unemployment.

”As a country, we must rise. We should try something different in addressing the issue of insecurity. We should face the security sector for now and leave other sectors so that we can attract both local and international investors and if this issue of insecurity is not properly addressed, it will affect the upcoming election,” he said

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