The Mayor of Urhoboland and notable ex-militant leader, Eshanakpe Israel a.k.a Akpodoro, has called on groups particularly those in the diaspora to leave the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited, GCEO, Engr Mele Kyari out of their frustrations and work hard wherever they are to add value to Nigeria’s national economy.
This was contained in a reaction by the Mayor to an online publication credited to a group, Global Peace Movement International led by one Mike Uyi who charged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to call Kyari to order over perceived lopsidedness in the award of a pipeline security protection contract.
The Mayor noted that apart from being a faceless group, Uyi and his co-travellers stood the truth on its head stressing that the contract awarded to Tantita Security Services LTD owned and managed by Chief Government Ekpemukpolo a.k.a Tomopolo followed due diligence adding that only idle minds could pick holes in the contract he said met all international standards.
He wondered what book did Uyi and his group read from saying there’s peace in the Niger Delta region adding that anarchy resides only in the minds of the leaders of such a faceless group who wish for conflicts in the region as he called on security agencies to go after those he described as conflict entrepreneurs whose stock in trade is to stock troubles.
The statement by the Mayor further explained that the NNPCL under Kyari has demonstrated sufficient patriotism and solidarity that birthed a watertight security system that has tied the noose around the necks of oil thieves in the region.
He added that the increase in the contract sum from 1.1m dollars to 7.9m dollars was done by the management of the NNPCL in good faith having expanded the scope of the contract awarded to TSSNL.
Akpodoro called on Uyi and his followers to unveil themselves and return from wherever they are to join hands with TSSNL to protect “our national patrimony and take it back from oil thieves if they so desire.”
The ex-militant leader challenged Uyi’s group to stop disparaging Kyari and Tompolo saying such an act is most unpatriotic from a supposedly knowledgeable group in the diaspora but was quick to dismiss them as faceless and jobless local boys who feast on disparaging and blackmailing government officials to eke out a living an act he said is criminal.
He called on the NNPCL to discountenance Uyi’s group, noting that it was one of their strategies to bully officials of the government for pecuniary reasons.
The Mayor who is also a Patron of the Maritime Security Agency, MASECA said, the NNPCL and the management of TSSNL deserve the accolade of all well-meaning Nigerians home and abroad for the initiative to secure oil facilities in the Delta spurring the nation’s oil output in the international oil market.
“The so-called Global Peace Movement International is on a lone drive to nowhere as Nigerians from all walks of life are witnesses to the humongous achievements of the TSSNL since it won the surveillance contract to which bellyachers are having sleepless nights.
“That call made by the group is uncalled for, ill-motivated, self-serving, mischievous, uncharitable and reckless. The security agencies should beam searchlights on those harassing and blackmailing Kyari for reasons of jealousy and envy, which they no longer can pretend about.
“We know them, and at the right time, we shall unveil, name and shame them. Save for a few disgruntled elements, Niger Deltans are happy with the progress made thus far by the TSSNL in the protection of the country’s oil resources a feat that has never been achieved by any private security firm in the annals of the Nigerian Petroleum industry. The office of the National Security Adviser to the President, ONSA should go after this bunch of blackmailers to rein them in, to serve as a deterrent to others in future.” The visibly livid Mayor stated.
