11 July 2012, Sweetcrude, Abuja – GROUP Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Andrew Yakubu, has urged communities hosting oil and gas pipelines to protect them from vandalism and theft.
Acting Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Fidel Pepple, in a statement, Tuesday, quoted the NNPC boss as having made the plea at the re-opening of the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) depot in Osisioma near Aba in Abia State.
Yakubu said: “I call on Abia people, especially Aba youths, to be guardian angels to secure the pipeline and depot facility.
“You should all be security conscious and ensure that the depot remains open to drive the local economy.”
According to him, the focus of his administration will be on the rehabilitation of vital downstream infrastructure to make petroleum products available to Nigerians at lower cost.
He stated that he would also champion the construction of critical gas infrastructure to make gas available for power generation and industries to revive Aba as an industrial hub.
At the occasion, Abia State governor, Theodore Orji, urged the people to be the eyes and ears of government and report every illegal movement around the pipelines to security agents.
He said he would propose a bill to the House of Assembly to make pipeline vandalism, oil theft and similar economic crimes capital offences that attract the death penalty.
