OPC: Arepo vandals are back because we were kicked out

The Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) has blamed Wednesday’s pipeline explosion at Arepo in Ogun state on the termination of its contract to protect the pipelines by the government.

At least 100 people were killed in the explosion caused by vandals.

The government of former President Goodluck Jonathan had awarded contracts worth billions of naira to some groups, including the OPC, for the protection of oil and gas pipelines. But the Buhari government revoked the contracts.

A statement by Yinka Oguntimehin, the group’s spokesman, described the incident as a national disaster that could have been averted if proper security was in place.

“It must be noted that activities of the vandals were permanently controlled for the period of three months that our men protected the pipelines,” it said.

“It is, no doubt, regrettable that in a little more than one month after our men quit the job, more than 200 deaths have been recorded as a result of the activities of pipelines vandals.

“While some people condemned our men and called us names, it is on record that nothing of this magnitude happened during the period of the three months that our operatives secured the pipelines.

“Of particular interest was the comment of the spokesperson of the Lagos chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Joe Igbokwe, in which he referred to our members as hoodlums and outlaws.

“The lesson to be learnt in the latest incident by Nigerians and our government is that government should encourage Nigerians with good ideas to be part of governance.

“All over the world, citizens are encouraged to be partners in progress with the government to move the country forward.‎”

The OPC said when its men were at Arepo, the people of the area had a sense of safety, but “all that sense of safety was gone with the wind once again with the return of the vandals.”.

“While security operatives can work to protect the pipelines, the issue of pipeline protection is much more complex than mere protecting the pipelines.

“It involves intelligence gathering, which ultimately should involve the people and this was the strategy that we employed during our time protecting the pipelines.

“The result of that strategy was our ability to curtail the activities of the vandals.

“Unfortunately, because we have placed politics above matters of national importance, the vandals have resumed their nefarious activities, killing and maiming our people.”