WAR ON OIL THEFT RECEIVES A BOOST
Irked by the destructive tendency of oil theft in the nation, a group led by Comrd. Abraham Ekokotu, the Anti-Oil Theft Sensitization Initiative (AOTSI), in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, has launched out in the Niger Delta region to combat oil theft through a non-kinetic approach.
This was made known at a well-attended workshop organized and held during the penultimate week in Warri, the commercial nerve center of Delta State, which was themed: Non-Kinetic Approach In War Against Theft and Related Vices.
The Ekokotu-led group Initiative has suggested an alternative approach to military action in the fight against the unabated oil theft in the Niger Delta creeks occasioned by vandalism of oil infrastructure and stealing petroleum products.
The Initiative, according to its founder, Ekokotu, took a giant stride by facilitating a collaborative/synergy with the federal ministry of defense to fight the war without necessarily going kinetic, saying sensitization, enlightenment, education, and workable intelligence gathering could be a better alternative to end the oil theft noting that, war starts in the heart of man and therein shall it be tackled and expunged first.
Speaking to the people involved through collaborative efforts with critical stakeholders in the Delta through a community-based approach, Ekokotu noted that this could end the reign of oil theft due mainly to the direct, peaceful, and persuasive approach of those involved in the act of economic sabotage he said has dealt a morbid blow to the national economy as the nation’s production quota plummets owing to the menace of oil theft.
Participants at the workshop commended the organizers, AOTSI, for the laudable initiative to whittle down the threats posed by oil theft to the region in particular and the national economy in general through a collaborative approach through communities that they noted were as actively involved in oil theft.
Speaking at the occasion, stakeholders unanimously agreed to key into the project to ensure the Initiative yields the desired result noting that apart from the sabotage on the economy, oil infrastructure vandalism has brought untold hardship on the people and devastated the environment of the Niger Delta region owing to the activities of criminal vandals. They agreed to explore the possibility of getting stakeholders involved to crusade for and to end oil theft as they apportion blame to oil multinationals whose workforce are allegedly involved in the menace of oil theft. Stakeholders implored the Federal government to roll out its arsenals to support Ekokotu’s Initiative to prevent oil theft for Nigerian production to surge.
At the Warri event are the representative of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of oil and Gas, Delta State, Francis Omoko; the representative of the Inspector General of Police, CSP Siga Malagwi,
representative of the Warri Refinery and Petro Chemical, Olleu David and Bankole Olusoji, who represented the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
Other stakeholders at the AOTSI event who actively participated and were willing to support it included Prof. Sunny Awhefeada, the keynote speaker, and the representative of the traditional ruler of Uvwie Kingdom, Chief Eyimofe Akemu.