A prominent politician from Warri North Local Government Area of oil rich Delta State, Mr Godwin Ebosa has strongly condemned the recent attack on Chevron’s Olero/Dibi flow line, imploring security agencies to fish out and prosecute perpetrators.
According to him, the recent attack and vandalization of the OLERO/DIBI/ABITEYE Crude Flow line operated by the American energy giant, Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) in Delta State was a very sad development.
Mr Godwin Ebosa, former chairman of Warri North Local Government Area of oil rich Delta State, said that it was a premeditated incident, adding that it it was meant to wreak havoc on the nation’s economy, and stop its emergence from the present recession.
In a Press Statement on Wednesday, he stated that the attack was uncalled for, saying it was clear that it was a deliberate act of sabotage to the national interest and said that those responsible for the heinous crime must be brought to face the full weight of the law.
“The reasons given by the faceless perpetrators, particularly that they were not provided jobs by Chevron multinational, was a worthless reason to destroy the pipelines.
It is puerile and unacceptable. It is clear that there is more to the attack than meets the eye, hence a thorough investigation is necessary to uncover the actual reason for the vandalism” he said.
He added that, “In the area where the incident happened, there is a structured leadership in place. We have responsible leaders such as Chief Sunny Omatseye, Mr. Tony Aderojo, Mr. David Odeli and Mr. Mike Odeli, among others, who have been living up to their responsibility as leaders of their people.
These leaders have been taking up the challenges facing their people. If the perpetrators were honest with the reason given, it wouldn’t have been necessary to go that far. They should have intimated their leaders of such grievances. It is unfortunate that a few rascals have resorted to destructive tendencies, rather than employ constitutional and lawful means to ventilate their anger.
Our youths, particularly those in the oil-producing areas, must shun violence and vandalism of government facilities”.
He also said that; “They should protect oil pipelines located in their localities and present their grievances to known leaders, who would then forward such demands to the oil companies and authorities concerned for action.It is the only way to ensure that grievances are heard and addressed without resorting to violence or other unwholesome actions”.
According to the statement also; “Anything outside the foregoing has criminal connotations. And it is against the law.
In conclusion, I make bold to say that the attack on the Olero/Dibi Flow line is outrightly despicable and unpatriotic.
We urge security agencies to take immediate action to unravel the incident, uncover the identities of the perpetrators, and bring them to justice.
It will serve as a deterrent to those who want to commit such crimes in the future.
All hands must be on deck to fight this barbarism. The people of the region must join forces to fight this malaise.
Crude oil is the mainstay of the nation’s economy, and therefrom, our state is given 13% derivation fund for development.
We mustn’t fold our hands and pretend that all is well.
Let us go all out against the common enemy”.
