By Obiabin Onukwugha
Former Niger Delta agitator, Dr. Kennedy West, has said that the issue of oil theft in the Niger Delta will persist except the amnesty program is adequately funded.
Kennedy West, who is the National President, Movement for the Survival of the Izon Ethnic Nationality in the Niger Delta (MOSIEND), in a telephone interview with our correspondent on Sunday, posited that the N65billion provided for the programme was no longer tenable, taking into consideration the current economic realities.
He stated that most of those who dropped their weapons for the programme about a decade ago have gone back to illegal refining because the Presidential Amnesty programme was no longer living up to its promises.
West said; “Until Amnesty Programme is adequately funded, the issue of oil theft and pipeline vandalisation will be an illusion. Reason being that the Amnesty Programme has suffered a lot of setback getting to nine years now.
“The hopes and aspirations of the spirit and letter brought about the Amnesty Programme is dwindling seriously and without remorse on the part of the federal government. This is owing to the fact that the former militants in the Niger Delta did you do what is called ‘arms buyback’. It was out of their own volition that they decided to drop their arms for the purpose of peace and the Nigeria to get back to it’s economic boom.
“Recall that the ugly days of the insurgency in the Niger Delta, reduced oil production to about 700 barrels per day from about 2.5 million barrels per day. When they surrendered their arms, it bounced back to 2.2 million barrels per day.
“ Currently, even with the contract given to indigenous players to man the pipelines, why is it that there is still drastic reduction in oil production? It is because most of the people who live within the oil and gas producing communities have gone back to the same trade. That is because they have lost hope in the Amnesty Programme.
“Recall that the N65 billion that the Amnesty Programme is using to service areas of education, areas of community sustainability development and all of that come from that meagre N65 billion, which was proposed by Dr. Kingsley Kuku, the former Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs and Administrator of Presidential Amnesty Programme.
“ It is unfair that the federal government did not consider the present economic hardship and reality to review the funds going into Amnesty Programme upwards.”
Meanwhile, the Joint Task Force (JTF), South-South Operation Delta Safe, led by Rear Admiral John Okeke, has commenced a tour of identified flashpoints of illegal bunkering sites across the Niger Delta region.
The tour is in response to the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, last Wednesday at a crucial meeting with divisional commanders and other security agencies, issuing a two-week deadline to improve oil production by eliminating illegal refining activities in the Niger Delta.
Speaking during the tour to identified communities in Abia and Rivers State on Thursday, Okeke said his team raided communities in Umorie, Abia state, uncovering large-scale illegal refining activities following intelligence reports.
The JTF Commander told journalists that the team also visited communities around Oyigbo local government area of Rivers State, noting that most of the hubs used for illegal refining activities have proximity to pipeline crossings and flow stations.
He further expressed confidence that the military will meet the two-week deadline given by the CDS, adding that the JTF has already mapped out a schedule for visiting communities to sensitise the people and destroy illegal refining sites.