Victor Ahiuma-Young
01 May 2012, Sweetcrude, LAGOS – NATIONAL Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, Sunday, called on the Federal Government to wake up and address the growing insecurity in the country
The union said it may be forced to call out members for industrial action should the attacks and killing of innocent Nigerians remain unabated.
President of NUPENG, Comrade Igwe Achese, at a briefing, said the union could no longer fold its hands and watch innocent Nigerians being killed like common animals, describing last Thursday’s bomb attacks on three media houses in the country as callous and criminal.
Achese also lamented the continued cases of kidnapping in Warri, Delta state which he said had continued on a daily basis in spite of official complaints to the state governor and security agencies.
According to him, “The issue of insecurity in our country is posing a great concern to us and there is no way as citizens of this country we will fold our hands and see where our sons and daughters are being killed like animals. It is very unfortunate and we share the pains of our comrades in the media profession especially those who lost their colleagues in ThisDay Newspapers and all that bombing especially the Easter attack, it was a very sad one.
“Each day, we wake up in the morning we keep hearing bomb blasts here and there. We do not know what kind of country we found ourselves in. We think the government needs to wake to face these challenges. There is no security in this country.
“How can the security of the nation be centred on the military headquarters, government parastatals and institutions and forget that the citizens of this country should also be protected as well? If you get into Abuja you see concentration of security, you know that the place is housing federal institutions or government officials. This is a sad thing.
“In order not to call our members out on the street to say enough is enough, that we cannot continue to fold our hands and see citizens of this country being killed unnecessarily like animals, we appeal to government to wake up from their slumber and make sure this country is properly secured.”
