By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The Nigerian Army has called on the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) for intervention to end illegal oil bunkering in the Niger Delta region.
General Officer Commanding 6 Division, Port Harcourt, Maj.-Gen. O. Oluyede, made the request, on Thursday when he received the Interim Administrator of PAP, Col. Milland Dikio (retd) in his office in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Oluyede identified some of the persons involved in the act as ex-agitators, who were ignorant of the harm they are doing to the region’s environment.
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He added that army is ready to partner PAP and other relevant bodies and agencies of government to end the environmental menace.
In his remarks, Dikio said: “We are creating more awareness on the issue. Recently, some of our delegates, ex-agitators held a sensitisation workshop here in Port Harcourt as part of our efforts to end illegal oil bunkering.
He said as quoted by the Vanguard, “Let me state that anyone involved in kpofire is like a murderer. They’ve made the atmosphere in and around Port Harcourt a health hazard. That is how bad it is.
“Rather than engage in kpofire business which endanger the health of the people in the region and in addition destroy our environment and eco system, it is better to go into palm oil production.
“That is a very lucrative business. A ton of palm oil currently above $5,000 which is a lot more than a ton of crude oil can fetch.”
