BEVERLY HILLS, January 20, (THEWILL) – President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed to deal with those involved in the resurgence in oil theft, pipeline vandalism and insecurity in the Niger Delta region.
He stressed that just like the Armed Forces was able to subdue Boko Haram, the activities of oil thieves and vandals would equally be a thing of the past in a matter of days.
It would be recalled that towards the end of last week, some ex-militants in the oil-rich region launched fresh attacks on oil installations in Delta State. While they blew up the Escravos-Warri-Abuja-Lagos pipelines on Thursday, the next day saw them destroying the Chevron Nigeria Limited’s Utunan-Makaraba crude oil pipeline.
But reacting to this resurgence at an interactive session with members of the Nigerian Community in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Buhari was quoted by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, as saying: “The oil thieves and abductors are a less problematic target. We will re-organise and deal with them.”
The President, while noting that the war against terrorism could only be won with the collective effort and commitment by all stakeholders, revealed that his administration’s fight against corruption will be a continuous one.
He revealed that more persons, who had abused the public trust, would be exposed and made to face the wrath of the law, stressing that his administration was committed to re-establishing accountability and probity in the management of public funds.
Buhari further called for patience and understanding from Nigerians as his government was putting in place structures that would safeguard the economy from the shock of falling oil prices.
His words, “In the face of our new economic reality of dwindling oil prices, there are a number of things we can really do without in order to preserve our economy.
“We must develop the capacity to feed ourselves and we should be spending our resources on real development projects, not luxuries.”
