By prudence O Wokoma
PORT HARCOURT — Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL) has issued a stern zero-tolerance warning to its surveillance contractors following a foiled high-level conspiracy to steal crude oil, even as regional leaders called for Niger Delta governors to seize control of the industry by bidding for their own oil blocks.
At a high-stakes monthly stakeholders meeting in Port Harcourt, PINL management revealed that its backup intelligence system recently intercepted two tankers attempting to load illegal crude at the Atali axis (Zone 4) in Rivers State. Dr. Akpos Mezeh, General Manager of Community and Stakeholder Relations, noted that preliminary findings point to an insider conspiracy, warning that any contractor or operative found culpable will face immediate contract termination and full criminal prosecution.
The warning was echoed by NNPCL’s Engr. Akponime Omojevwhe, who mandated that contractors in communities where sabotage occurs should be issued non-performance certificates. With 100% of surveillance workers drawn from host communities, Omojevwhe urged contractors to perform rigorous due diligence to ensure local guards do not spoil the name of the community through collusion.
In another vein, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide used the forum to raise an alarm over the systematic exclusion of the Niger Delta from oil governance. IYC Secretary-General, Maobuye Nangi-Obu, challenged the Rivers State government and other regional governors to form state-owned oil companies to bid for the 25 marginal oil fields currently up for allocation.
“They sit in Abuja and decide what happens in our region,” Nangi-Obu lamented, noting that these fields are often handed to outsiders while the host communities bear the environmental brunt. He further cautioned communities against directional drilling, where oil is extracted from beneath their land from distant locations without their knowledge, and criticized the ongoing injustice of gas flaring.
Despite the criticisms of the broader industry, both the IYC and traditional rulers, including King Kevin Anugwo (Eze Ekpeye-Logbo), praised PINL’s engagement model. The monarch noted that PINL’s security efforts have led to a visible environmental recovery, with long-vanished fish species finally returning to local waters. While pledging continued support for pipeline security.
Community leaders like Chief Batom Mitee emphasized that the resulting rise in oil output must finally translate into tangible benefits for the people of the Niger Delta.
