‘Pipeline Vandals Are Terrorists’

Vice President, Yemi
Osinbajo Friday described pipeline vandals in the Niger Delta as terrorists and urged Nigerians to support President Muhammadu Buhari’s resolve to give the Boko Haram treatment to oil and gas facilities and pipeline vandals.
Osinbajo who stated this in Warri after visiting strategic gas pipelines at Forcados Export Terminal in Burutu Council Area of Delta State, noted that the January 14, 2016 sabotage on the pipeline at Forcados resulted to the unprecedented power cuts that had been experienced in recent times.
He said, “As you know, pipeline vandals are probably as bad as any type of terrorists or saboteurs and the danger posed to lives by pipeline vandals. All of us must agree with the president that the vandals must be treated with the most severe manner and should not be tolerated at all.
“Aside from the gas problem, there is also the problem of losing thousands of barrels of crude oil. We are not able to produce as much as we ought to. About 250,000 barrels are also lost per day. We are losing large sums of money daily. We look for alternative, while we look to repair the pipelines.”
He stressed the need for the government to deploy more sophisticated weapons to ensure that it contains the vandalism, overhauls security, remarking that a permanent pipeline security force might be an option to look at.
The Vice President regretted that the damage done by the vandals has led to low supply of gas and such that most of the power plants were not functioning at maximum capacity.
The Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa said repair works on the facilities were on and would be completed May.