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MEMBERS under the aegis of the Coalition of Organisation for Peace and Development in Niger Delta (COPDIND) have been warned to desist from sabotaging efforts on pipeline surveillance in the Niger Delta.
The Niger Delta Peace Initiative (NDPI), a progressive/peace advocacy group in the region, gave the warning in a statement signed by its president, Comrade Raphael Ebimobowei a copy of which was made available on Tuesday to journalists in the region.
The group frowned at what it called concocted blackmail and campaign of calumny orchestrated by COPDIND against a contracting firm, Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL) in a publication.
Ebimobowei said the allegations of neglect and breach of contract agreements against PINL were bereft of truth in the face of obvious realities.
The group accused COPDIND of hiding under fake names to rupture the peace of Rivers and Bayelsa states.
The statement read in part: “First and foremost, NDPI hereby extols the efforts of PINL in ensuring the safety and security of pipelines under its protection which saw to the increase in oil production in geometric proportions in the country.
“PINL should be commended for providing the enabling environment that ensured the accommodation and collective participation of all stakeholders in the region, which has brought about the sustained peace enjoyed in the Niger Delta. It is a fact that since after the engagement of PINL, pipeline vandalism and oil theft have drastically reduced to the barest minimum.
“We condemn COPDIND in their unfounded allegations against PINL as published in one of the dailies. The signatories to the publication are also beneficiaries of PINL. They embark on this dastardly act under the fake names, Atama Mien and Tamuno Long-John, being masterminded and sponsored by miscreants carrying out bunkering activities in the region. We actually know them.
“To put the records straight, PINL has neither sidelined nor blackmailed against stakeholders of any oil-producing community, hence we urge the public and constituted authorities to disregard COPDIND and their threats. Moreso, COPDIND’s campaign against PINL is an effort in futility.
“There i’s also a security report on our desk that the same people behind COPDIND are orchestrating protests in Rivers and Bayelsa States to continue their campaign of calumny against PINL in order to heat up the polity and cause unrest in the region.
“The basic truth is that they are bent on sabotaging the efforts and achievements of PINL in the Niger Delta region, which has translated into improved economy of our dear nation. We are saying that this plan of sabotage must be nipped in the bud.”
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