As the wanton theft of the nation’s crude oil in the Niger Delta region continues to take its toll on the Nigerian economy, the speaker of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly, Hon Abraham Ingobere said the criminal enterprise may be far from over as long as unemployment, poverty and environmental degradation are not tackled by the government.
He, however commended the federal government for the steps taken in awarding pipeline surveillance contracts to some persons in the region and urged the government to equally extend same to accommodate other stakeholders.
Ingobere, who is from the oil rich Bayelsa State spoke in an exclusive interview on the sideline of the conference of speakers in Toronto, Canada.
He said, ” I believe that one of the measures to be taken in tackling crude oil theft is for government to continue to interface with stakeholders in the region and with the people whose livelihood have been destroyed by oil activities of oil exploration.
“We are representative of the people and we have firsthand information about the problems they are faced in most communities in the Niger Delta. It is a common knowledge that the Niger Delta region have been abandoned despite huge exploration of oil from their backyard.
“The rate of unemployment and poverty among our people is high and that is why they are attacking oil pipeline to steal crude which has become a system that the people are so used to.
“For now, it will be difficult to stop completely. I will also advice the government to step up action just like they are doing to secure the pipelines against oil vandals.”
It is our prayers also that government should listen to the people and give pipeline security job to accommodate more people.
“Even the bunkering we are talking about today are perpetrated by top individuals and some security personnel”.
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