Members of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Thursday sent letter to President Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and drew government’s attention to the menace of oil theft and pipeline vandalism going on in the country.
Speaking during a peaceful protest march in Abuja,Abba Mohammed, the Group General Manager, Security, NNPC, stated that in order to curb oil theft and nip pipeline vandalisation into the bud, Nigeria needs perception management and sensitisation, as well as the need to deal and radicalise behavioral patterns of oil thieves.
Mohammed emphasized the need for organised labour in the oil and gas sector to reach out and continue to put the negative effects of oil theft in the country in the front burner.
He spoke when the protesting members of PENGASSAN arrived the at the headquarters of NNPC Limited to submit letter to the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC, in respect to the planned rally to draw government’s attention to the menace of oil theft and pipeline vandalism going on in the country.
Commending PENGASSAN for the peaceful protest, he said Nigeria must remain one must co-exist to avoid war.
He added: “This is our country, we have no other place. You can see how Ukraine is being devastated in international politics, but whatever happens, they are not enjoying it neither Russia.”
At the Louis Edet House of the Nigeria Police Force, the oil workers, who began the protest from Unity Fountain, to drop letter on their grievances to the Inspector General of Police for onward delivery to President Muhammadu Buhari, were received by the Deputy Inspector General Police in charge of Operations, Bala Senchi.
Assuring the workers that their letter would be delivered to the IGP, he said their demands would be given immediate action.
He urged them to peacefully go about their normal activities without breaking the law.
Earlier, while delivering the letters to the authorities, stating their grievances, President of PENGASSAN, Festus Osifo, lamented that currently, there is a lot of collusion going on in the Niger Delta,adding that it was the time for well meaning Nigerians to close ranks together.
He said that with the quantity of crude oil being siphoned on a daily basis, if government refuses to act fast, the lives of unborn children would be in jeopardy.
He added:”What the government is doing is that they are putting the future of our children and those yet unborn into jeopardy. It will get to a time that we will not longer be capable to service debts. It will get to a time as a nation when we are going to default, when our naira will turn to banana.
“If that happens, we will need a truckload of naira to buy a loaf of bread, just as it happened in Zimbabwe. We must shout before it gets to that time. Now is the time for well meaning Nigerians to come together to chase these oil thieves. Let’s chase these vandals beyond the shores of this country. Those that are apprehended, they must be prosecuted. There is a total collusion going on in the Niger Delta and this is the time that this must stop”.
