Okowa condemns attack on oil facilities in Delta

Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta on Monday condemned the recent attacks on the oil and gas facilities across the state.

Okowa’S condemnation is contained in a statement issued and signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Charles Aniagwu, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Asaba.

He, in the statement, called on the people of the state to cooperate with the security agencies to unmask the criminals behind the crime.

In the statement, Okowa urged the security agencies to intensify their surveillance over the oil facilities while urging the youths to shun any temptation to be lured into such an act.

The statement quoted the governor to have pledged his administration’s commitment to support all measures aimed at restoring the confidence of all stakeholders in the oil and gas industry operating in the state.

“These attacks should be condemned by all well meaning Nigerians, particularly, the compatriots from the Niger-Delta region.

“This is an attack on our souls, the state is bleeding again and its implication for the economy and image of Delta State is grave,’’ he said in the statement.

It recalled that the state had, last week, hosted a stakeholders’ summit on the `Effect of Vandalism of Oil and Gas Facilities’’ in Warri.

The statement said that the summit was aimed at highlighting some of the dangers associated with vandalism and brainstormed on measures to curb it.

The statement said that it was unfortunate that these attacks on oil and gas facilities came just few days after the summit.

Okowa, in the statement, noted that such action was not a good way of reciprocating the good intentions of his government given the enormous resources that were being invested in the sector.

The statement said that the state government’s investment in the oil and gas sector was aimed at turning around the fortunes of the state.

The governor called on community leaders and youth groups to resist any temptation to be drawn into these nefarious activities in the state, it said.

The statement quoted the governor as saying that such activities could jeopardise the ongoing intervention by the Federal Government to change the lives of the youths through the Amnesty Office.

“Do not be part of this crime and refuse to listen to any leader or politician who will want to pitch one ethnic nationality against the other as a result of these incidents.

“The destruction of oil facilities is purely criminal and we reject attempts to label it otherwise’’, Okowa said in the statement.