Buhari Assures On Security In GoG …As Stakeholders Seek 18 Modular Refineries Licenses

President Muhammadu Buhari has announced that Nigeria remains committed to spearheading the efforts in tackling crimes in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG).
The President in his message at the National Conference on Organised Crimes in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea, via his verified Twitter handle, recalled that in 2019 he assented to Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences Act (SPOMO Act), which, according to him, was to curb Piracy, Armed Robbery and other unlawful acts against any ship lawfully operating in the GoG.
President Buhari, who was billed to launch the “Network on Organised Crime in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea” at the Conference organised by the Youths and Environmental Advocacy Centre (YEAC-Nigeria) in Port Harcourt, noted that his administration recently invested $195 million in security boats, vehicles and aircraft.
“I’m pleased with the successes being recorded in tackling piracy in the GoG. Nigeria remains committed to spearheading these efforts. Through the Deep Blue Project, launched in June 2021, Nigeria invested $195 million in security boats, vehicles and aircraft”, he said.
Earlier, stakeholders at the conference urged President Muhammadu Buhari, to issue the 18 modular refinery licenses already approved for Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Cross River, Edo and Rivers states, before leaving office in May, as a way of mitigating organized crimes in Nigeria and the GoG.
Also, the stakeholders charged the Federal Government to reach out to its counterparts in the GoG and immediately establish a Taskforce Against Organized Crime in Nigeria and the GoG.
Speaking, Executive Director of YEAC-Nigeria, Mr. Fyneface Dumnamene Fyneface, urged the Federal Government to make real all its promises to the youths and people of the Niger Delta that can help mitigate organized crimes in the GoG.
Fyneface said instead of pipeline surveillance contracts, the government should provide alternative livelihood opportunities for those displaced by the war against artisanal refining, saying that organized crime thrives since security agencies who are supposed to stop It, are involved in aiding, abetting and refusing to do their job.
“Issue the 18 Modular refinery licenses already approved for Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Cross River, Edo and Rivers states. I hereby reiterate the call for Ondo, Abia, and Imo States where pipeline vandalism, artisanal refining and associated environmental pollution is also on-going to be included among the states to be issued three modular refinery licenses each to mitigate the on-going organized crime.
“Government should establish Presidential Artisanal Crude Oil Refining Development Initiative (PACORDI) for illegal artisanal refiners in the Niger Delta, the same way it established Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Development Initiative (PAGMI) for illegal gold miners in parts of the north and western Nigeria.
“I call on security operatives posted to the Niger Delta to stop getting involved in aiding and abetting pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft, illegal bunkering and artisanal refining that destroys our environment.