Comrade Princewill Timipre Ebebi
By BARBARA KALU, Port Harcourt –
Project Niger Delta (PND), a civil society organization, has called on the federal government to cancel ongoing surveillance contracts aimed at stopping the theft of crude oil in the Niger Delta.
In a petition signed by its Executive Director/Coordinator, comrade Princewill Timipre Ebebi and sent to President Tinubu on Wednesday, the PND argued that the current surveillance contractors should be held responsible for continuing oil theft in the region and not the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
The PND therefore urged the president to ignore calls from certain quarters for the sack, arrest and prosecution of the Group Managing Director of the nation’s top oil company, NNPC, Mr Miele Kyari, for alleged subversion.
The PND described the current surveillance contractors as “enemies of the Niger Delta”, averring that not only have they failed to stop oil theft, but that they were behind the calls for the sack of Kyari, while using their wealth to try to silence the voice of the Niger Delta people.
In his petition, Ebebi assured the president that the PND is driven by the collective desire of the Niger Delta people for peace , justice and development in the region. He condemned the Movement for Sustainable Development of the Niger Delta (MSDND), the group that called for Kyari’s sack, describing their activities as divisive.
Parts of the statement read:
“We therefore, call on Mr. President to ignore the call on Mele Kyari’s sack, arrest, prosecution and investigation by secret service because they are been sponsored by those who are benefiting from the surveillance contracts and illicit oil bunkering in the region. We therefore demands as follows;
“1. Mr. President should withdraw/terminate the ongoing surveillance contracts awarded to privilege civilians to avert illicit bunkering and further insecurity.
“2. Mr. President should direct security agencies to commission investigation on the conducts of ongoing surveillance contracts beyond their false pretence in the public eye.
“3. Mr. President should be informed that giving security contract to known enemies of the state portrait danger to our collective existence. At such, the federal government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu watch should henceforth hand over all surveillance contracts to security agencies and to be supervised by the impeccable leadership of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser NSA for the benefit of all.
“4. The Movement for Sustainable Development of the Niger Delta (MSDND), which mischievously called on President Bola Tinubu to sack, arrest, and investigate the Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), Mr. Mele Kyari, over alleged economic sabotage, is a pathetic attempt to portray Mele Kyari as an ineffective leader of Nigeria’s oil industry. Relying solely on their distorted imaginations and what they were clearly directed to write by their paymasters, they blasted NNPCL under Kyari as a complete failure devoid of any leadership. Someone sending an open letter to the president is expected to present a compelling case supported by accessible data before determining that the NNPCL is a failure under Kyari.
“5. Mr. Mele Kyari has led the NNPCL to success, bringing optimism and constructive change to Nigeria’s oil sector. Kyari’s unwavering dedication and relentless attempts to improve the NNPCL, as well as his compassion and empathy in his profession, have had a huge impact on Nigeria’s oil sector. It is sad that the Movement for Sustainable Development of the Niger Delta (MSDND) was paid to destroy Kyari’s good name and track record as economic sabotage.
“6. Sadly, those in charge of surveillance, security are also accountable for the ongoing oil theft in the Niger Delta. They are also seeking for a way to subtly blackmail Kyari due to his recent initiatives to address the unpleasant situation of oil theft. The way that the oil thieves have carried out their criminal activities has deprived the people of the Niger Delta of their means of subsistence, and it is a crime against humanity.
“7. On this note, we are pleading with the President to disregard the demands of the cunning blackmailers, who demand that Mr. Mele Kyari be fired, arrested, and the subject of an investigation. Instead, we want the President to order the Department of State Security (DSS) to track down the individuals who are funding this call, as they are the ones accountable for the oil theft that has occurred in the Niger Delta.
“8. The exploitation of Niger Delta in particular and Nigeria in general is absord and does not contribute to national unity & integration. The actors are collaborating with the IOCs, western block and subsidy benefactors in other to sabotage Nigeria refineries and oil production in Nigeria for their personal gratification (s) in abject denial of state goodwill.
“Instead of one of the principal partners to the aforementioned barbaric act, to supervise and monitor the refinery completion stage to further complement the renew hope agenda of the President, he is busy travelling abroad to collect the proceeds of their ventures.
9. The PND leadership further urged the Presidency not to feed known enemies of the Niger Delta with surveillance contracts to avert accumulating excessive wealth in their hands with which to continue enslaving the voiceless majority of the Ijaw people in Delta state and beyond with their stockpiled wealth.
10. The PND leadership refuses to be intimidated by anyone or group in the Niger Delta and declares that that enough is enough. The leadership will continue t speak out until justice is served in our collective desire for equity, justice, peace, collective development, progress, fairness and unity of purpose
11. The PND warns that nobody has the monopoly of violence. We are prepared to vehemently resist at all possible costs, any attempt to intimidate our leadership.
12. The PND finally submits that nobody is too powerful on earth as only God is supreme. Therefore, those who choose to oppress our people must remember that little David killed Goliath and at such, the leadership of PND will at all times refuse to be enslaved by anyone within the Ijaw ethnic nationality and beyond.
