A group has justified the ceaseless stealing of crude oil including upgrade in vessel facilities, vowing to start a new wave of insurgence in the Niger Delta soon.
Cynthia Whyte, spokesperson for the Joint Revolutionary Council (JRC) that also included the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), said in an e-mail statement to media houses, “Oil product sabotage will continue; and then lead the way for the new wave of insurgence”.
Whyte pointed at certain injustices and also said the hue and cry over bunkering was because the vessels belonging to northern leaders had been replaced by other ones. Whyte said, “Oil product sabotage will continue in the Niger Delta until what belongs to Caesar is given to Caesar. The Nigerian state has stolen far more from the Niger Delta”.
The JRC said, “The only question we have now is why are they complaining now? Less oil is being taken now than in the previous years where almost all Northern generals had a bunkering vessel in the Niger Delta”.
According to her, “While the pace of infrastructural development continues across the country, construction work on the East-West Road has been halted. Abuja continues to enjoy 24 hours infrastructure upgrade. Billions of naira is being doled out to critical projects in Northern Nigeria while the Niger Delta, which provides the resources that oil the continued existence of the Nigeria continues to be ignored. Fast rail projects have been awarded in Northern Nigeria and are almost nearing completion. Yet the Lagos-Calabar rail link is yet to get off the ground. The Niger Delta coastal road has been literally abandoned”.
Saying the situation was unacceptable, JRC said, “Northerners own more than 90 percent of the private oil blocs in the Niger Delta. Show me one Niger Deltan who owns even a ground nut farm in the North. Atiku Abubakar has multi-billion naira oil, gas and logistics business in Port Harcourt and some other parts of the Niger Delta. Show me one Niger Deltan or Southern Nigerian with a billion naira business in the North. Yet, those people fought to keep Jonathan away from power. Time will tell. The next wave of insurgence in the Niger Delta will come like a tsunami. It will not be long”.
Most oil thieves in the region claim it was a justified activity, some even calling for licences. A group of university dons also met at an event in Port Harcourt in September 2012 and urged the Federal Government to legalise bunkering so as to give room to pockets of refining activities in the region.
Source : Business Day
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