CSOs fault award of oil pipeline protection contracts to ‘militants, ex-bandits’

The Civil Society Coalition for Mandate Protection (CSC-MAP) has asked the federal government to stop awarding oil pipeline protection contracts in the Niger Delta region to “militants”.

At a rally in the Ojota area of Lagos on Wednesday, the coalition of 55 civil society groups said such contracts should be awarded to professionals and not “former bandits who once led an armed insurrection against the state”.

In a statement signed by Micheal Ajayi, deputy coordinator of the coalition, the groups said “indigenous peoples from the oil-producing communities feel sidelined by this arrangement and are opposed to the idea of giving pipeline protection contracts to armed groups”.

“The NNPC may be unconsciously empowering armed groups through pipeline contracts in the Niger Delta,” the statement adds. 

“The majority of people in oil-producing companies are sidelined by the fact that some of the companies involved in the pipeline protection are not indigenous to the communities and territories expected to be protected.

“The indigenous communities like Itsekiri and Ilaje are being sidelined. There is a looming dispute which can snowball into a major problem.

“It is inconceivable that oil pipeline protection in Itsekiri and Ilaje have been handed over to interests that fought these communities with arms and ammunition in the past.”

The groups advised the government to launch a new amnesty programme to ensure that armed groups remaining in the Niger Delta surrender their weapons. 

Earlier this month, the Civil Society Coalition in Nigeria (CSCN) called on the government to ensure pipeline protection contracts are no longer awarded to militants.

The group said it amounted to “self-deceit” for militants to be given billions of naira to protect oil pipelines, noting that such an act may further fuel the proliferation of illicit arms in the Niger Delta region.

Corroborating this in March, Tajudeen Olanrewaju, a former minister of communications, said “repentant” non-state actors cannot be trusted with the security of Nigeria’s oil pipelines.