Oil-bearing communities advocate measures to end pipeline vandalism
Oil-bearing communities of Abia state have called for more collaboration among stakeholders for a more effective security around the nation’s oil pipelines to check vandalism and oil bunkering.
The call was made by a cross-section of representatives of 20 oil-bearing and pipeline host communities in Ukwa West and Ukwa East Local Government Areas of the state during a one-day stakeholders’ meeting organised by the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) on Monday in Umuahia.
They attributed the incessant pipeline vandalism to security lapses due to alleged compromise by security operatives and called for more stringent measures to checkmate the phenomenon.
The communities alleged an unwholesome collaboration between some unscrupulous security operatives detailed to secure the pipelines and the vandals.
Traditional ruler of Okwe in Ukwa West, Samuel Nwachi, urged oil companies and relevant government agencies to integrate leaders of oil-bearing communities in their plans to secure the pipelines in their communities.
Nwachi said that community leaders, including the youths, were always worried about pipeline vandalism and the resultant oil spill and were anxious to be part of the solution.
Also, the traditional ruler of Mbam Abuo Autonomous Community in Ukwa East, Israel Nwankwo, said that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC) have yet to demonstrate genuine commitment toward safeguarding the pipelines against vandalism.
Nwankwo, who claimed that pipelines passed his community in Ndoki, described vandalism and oil bunkering as a common phenomenon in the area.
He blamed the development on the failure of the oil companies and relevant government agencies to provide adequate and effective security around the pipelines.
“If the owner of a property fails to take care of his property, it simply shows that the person does not attach value to the property and others will take it,” he enthused.
The monarch therefore, called for a more effective and efficient security around the pipelines, saying that vandals were taking advantage of security lapses to perpetrate their crime..
He regretted that the crime has persisted, in spite of the efforts of the youths of the area to secure the pipelines, adding that “we are doing our best, but we are not security personnel. Our boys move around in the day, but vandalism and oil theft are done at night.”
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Director-General of NOSDRA, Mr. Idris Musa, said that the meeting is meant to offer a platform to the communities to make inputs to the agency’s strategic plan in tackling environmental challenges facing the nation.
Musa, who was represented by a Director in the agency, Dr. Obanewa Oladipo, said that the agency decided to embrace a bottom-top approach as against the primordial top-bottom approach to ensure a better and more efficient result.
