SAN FRANCISCO, June 08, (THEWILL) – A new militant group, Ultimate Warriors of Niger Delta has demanded the award of 60 per cent oil bloc to indigenous people of the Niger Delta region as one of the conditions for ceasefire on the destruction of oil installations in the region.
The group, in a statement signed by its spokesman, ‘Gen’ Sibiri Taiowoh on Wednesday, threatened to continue the attack on oil facilities until the $16billion Export Processing Zone (EPZ) project as well as the Federal Maritime University established by former President Goodluck Jonathan are completed and start operations.
The group, which gave the Federal Government two weeks ultimatum to meet its demand, threatened that if the government failed to comply, it will shut down Chevron BOP, Okan Platform, MEREN Gas Gathering Compression Platform as well as blow up Chevron Tank Farm.
The statement read; “We are also behind the recent pipeline bombing in the Niger Delta region and I can assure you we will not stop until the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) project and the Maritime University are totally completed and start operations.
“We want to be the ones to be safe guarding oil pipeline in our area so as to create more jobs for our people. We would resist any attempt to give surveillance contracts of pipeline in our backyard to foreigners. We want the pipeline jobs to be given to our indigenous people.
“We also want 60 per cent of the oil blocs to be allocated to the Niger Deltans just as the Federal Government has also allocated 80 per cent to those who are not from the oil producing area and just as 50 per cent of the resource was used to develop the non-oil area when we were producing cocoa and groundnut as main economic resources, the same 50 percent should be use to develop the Niger Delta region because we are the ones suffering the brunt of oil pollution and degradation in the region.
“We are giving the Federal Government two weeks ultimatum to start the fast-track of both the EPZ project and Maritime University. Also if within this two weeks we did not see the moves to award the pipeline surveillance jobs and allocation of 60 percent oil blocs to Niger Deltans, we shall shut down Chevron BOP and Okan Platform as well as the MEREN Gas Gathering Compression Platform and blow up Chevron Tank Farm.”
Story by Joe Ogbodu
