Pipeline vandalism is akin to robbery because of its negative effect on oil exploration, Abia State Petroleum Commissioner, Don Ubani, argued recently at a workshop organised by the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC).
Don Ubani
PPMC is a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
The economic loss of pipeline sabotage is unquantifiable, Ubani stressed at the workshop held at the Aba depot of the NNPC.
“Pipeline vandalism should not arise because Nigeria is the only country that subsidises fuel and every Nigerian is enjoying it.
“Those who do it to amass wealth should know that such inordinate acquisition of wealth does not last,” he stated.
Ubani urged everyone to be a stakeholder in pipeline security and urged communities not to sabotage the effort, noting that if there are no buyers of stolen oil, sellers will not exist.
He said the state government attaches importance to the security of pipelines and warned that vandals will be prosecuted.
Onyema Ebike of the Public Affairs Department of the PPMC, Abuja, explained that apart from economic loss, oil spill from broken pipes degrades the environment.
He appealed to traditional rulers and youths of the communities that have pipelines to ensure their security.
PPMC Community Relations Officer, Collins Ake, added that it takes about 20 years to recover a degraded environment and warned of the danger of pipeline vandalism.
But Aba Depot Public Relations Officer, Simple Nwankpa, insisted that it is unfair to expect the Aba area to provide security for the pipeline up to Enugu.
He urged the NNPC to provide welfare for traditional rulers and youths of the communities and entrust the security of the pipelines to them.
Nwankpa wondered why the Aba depot has no fuel when the area is safe to pump product.
Independent Petroleum Marketers of Nigeria (IPMAN) Chairman, Gilbert Nwoke, urged youths and stakeholders not to vandalise oil pipelines, warning that investors are reluctant to build refineries because there is no profit.
“For instance,” he explained, “when a product is pumped from Port Harcourt before it gets to Aba 90 per cent would have been lost to vandalism.”
Aba Depot Manager, Emmanuel Mgbakir, lamented that lives have been lost to pipeline vandalism and wondered what the perpetrators would have gained if they lost their own lives in the process.
He reminded pipeline vandals that there is a shoot on sight order against perpetrators, and stressed that the ultimate losers are the people through unemployment, fuel adulteration and scarcity of products.