Niger Delta militants believed to be supporters of former militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, also known as Tompolo, once again exploded last Thursday. They vandalised crude oil and gas pipelines which have now deprived refineries of oil supplies.
They also bombed gas pipelines which supply power plants and caused a drop in electricity generation for the national grid by 1,000MW. The total cost is estimated at N740 million daily.
The Niger Delta, which is getting attractive to local and foreign investors, once again appears to be heading into the days of anarchy when tension and fear of militancy met with military repression reminiscent of the 2009 military raid of the region.
Though denied by the region’s leaders, the militants were believed to be reacting to last Thursday’s order by a Federal High Court in Lagos which issued an arrest warrant for Tompolo for alleged N34 billion fraud levelled against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The timely response of military Joint Task Force averted the spread of the destruction as the militants fled. But the cost of blown pipelines has escalated to the closure of Port Harcourt and Warri Refineries, as well as closure of power plants lacking gas for operations.
The local cost of the pipeline vandalisation is aggravated by the drop in volume of crude oil and gas for export too. The Nigerian economy is going through dire straits, like all oil exporting nations.
This is hardly the time for Niger Delta militants to take out their anger on oil and transport facilities criss-crossing their territory.
Crude oil price, currently hovering around $29 per barrel, is much below the budget benchmark of $38 per barrel. So every exporting nation is managing volumes with care to maximise revenue.
That is why it is so preposterous that the militants vandalised oil and gas facilities and spread the drumbeats of war. Some of them live in communities without roads, schools, health and other essential facilities. They require more oil revenue to provide them.
Whatever the cause of the vandalisation, it is necessary to reinforce the fact that at a time like this, violence and disruptive actions are ill-winds which blow nobody any good.
Armies of unemployed youths roam the streets, some work but do not get paid regularly, and others get under-employed to keep body and soul together. Peaceful resolution of conflicts pays all sides and the economy better.
As President Muhammadu Buhari has said often, if all of us do not join hands to kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria. Corruption has reduced Nigeria to the big, good-for-nothing giant in the comity of nations.
Vandalisation of pipelines, blow-up of oil wells and flow stations and other nefarious activities which disrupt free flow of oil and gas from well-heads to loading platforms constitute economic sabotage.
Sabotage in the economy’s dire straits is equivalent to corruption in itself.
We must all therefore support the EFCC to win the anti-corruption war. Simultaneously, we must maintain our vigilance against EFCC’s power abuse. We would not accept an anti-corruption war which slides towards dictatorship.
Even the arrowhead of the war, the EFCC, is once again making exhibition of its power of arrest, detention, arraignment and bail. We want more convictions and retrieval of looted public funds.
We expect the EFCC to fight corruption with the rule of law. Fighting corruption is not mutually exclusive with the rule of law. An anti-corruption war which tramples on the rights of citizens and disobeys court orders is the start of dictatorship which we detest.
Fortunately, EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, said last Wednesday that the anti-graft war under his watch would be guided by adherence to the rule of law and national interest, implying that the EFCC would abide by court orders.
There is no reason for the EFCC to embark on acts of impunity since it is also an agency regulated by law.
We watch whether Magu would walk the talk or he says so because talk is cheap.
