 |
Minister
of state for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu
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Traditional rulers and
stakeholders from the Niger Delta region yesterday listed six things the
federal government should do in order to stop further destruction of the
country’s oil assets by militants and restore peace in the region.
Daily
Trust report continues:
King
Jaja of Opobo, Douglas Jaja, was among prominent rulers in the region who met
with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, in Abuja
yesterday to present their demands.
Niger
Delta Coastal States’ monarchs and stakeholders in the region called on the
federal government to urgently constitute a dialogue team to negotiate on its
behalf with stakeholders in the region.
In
their submission presented by Chief Wellington Okirika, the Bolowei of
Gbaramatu Kingdom, the monarchs asked for the release of 10 school children
they said were arrested by the Nigerian Army on May 28, 2016 in Oporoza and
others in detention.
They
also asked the government to: “Return the Golden Sword, being the symbol of
authority in the Gbaramatu traditional institution, return the three
traditional council speed boats in custody of the Nigerian Army, and cease
military hostilities in the Niger Delta region.
“Equally
important, the federal government should make a categorical statement about the
opening of the Maritime University, Okerenkoko Delta State for academic
activities in the 2016/2017 session,” they added.
Kachikwu,
in his response, said what was more important was that the ceasefire must
hold.
“I was told, and I have not verified it, that in fact, on Monday, a day after the announcement, we had an attack on Nembe Creek, and we lost another 150,000 barrels and some gas from the Agip facility. So there are still some splinter elements who despite the ceasefire, continue to attack the efficacy of that ceasefire,” he said.
“I was told, and I have not verified it, that in fact, on Monday, a day after the announcement, we had an attack on Nembe Creek, and we lost another 150,000 barrels and some gas from the Agip facility. So there are still some splinter elements who despite the ceasefire, continue to attack the efficacy of that ceasefire,” he said.
Kachikwu
disclosed that over US$40 billion had been put into the Niger Delta region but
there was no infrastructure to relay such investment.
The minister lamented that the government could no longer fund the 2016 budget due to the crisis in the region which had led to a significant drop of Nigeria’s crude oil output to about 1.3million barrels per day, in addition to the falling crude oil price.
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