N’Delta ex-agitators, others recommit to partnership with PINL on pipeline security

By: Aherhoke Okioma

Chairman of the First Phase Ex-Agitators Forum, Mr Jacob Braveman, popularly known as Colonel Braveman, has assured Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL), the surveillance firm in charge of the Eastern corridor of the Trans-Niger Pipeline (TNP), of the continued support of former agitators in protecting oil and gas facilities under its watch.

Braveman gave the assurance during PINL’s August stakeholders’ meeting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, where he said the group was impressed by the firm’s stakeholder engagement and outreach programmes in its area of operation.

He said ex-agitators, who understand the rivers and creeks through which the pipelines pass, will continue to work with PINL to curb vandalism and protect critical oil and gas infrastructure, adding that such collaboration will help Nigeria increase production and meet its OPEC quota.

Chairman of the state traditional rulers council and Ibenanowei of Ekpetiama clan, King Bubaraye Dakolo (Agada IV), commended PINL for contributing to peace and stability in the Niger Delta through its stakeholder engagement, outreach programmes and scholarship scheme.

The monarch cautioned against third party interference in oil pipeline operations, and urged PINL to remain focused,  despite the activities of some sister firms which, he alleged, do not adequately involve stakeholders in their operations.

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PINL’s General Manager, Community and Stakeholder Relations, Dr Akpos Mezeh, said operations in the TNP and Eastern Gas Network had been largely uninterrupted in recent months, due to sustained collaboration among security agencies, contractors and host communities.

Mezeh said the success underscored the importance of securing critical energy infrastructure, noting that the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline (AAGP), designed to transport 30 billion cubic metres of gas annually from Nigeria to Morocco, will also depend on peace, security and effective stakeholder collaboration.

He said the recent signing of the Intergovernmental Agreement for the AAGP by ECOWAS Heads of State at the ECOWAS Summit in Freetown, Sierra Leone, was a milestone that further highlighted the need to protect Nigeria’s energy infrastructure.

Also, the director-general of the state Centre for Youth Development, Comrade Robert Igali, commended PINL’s community-friendly policies and programmes, saying they had encouraged greater stakeholder participation in the security and protection of pipelines in the Eastern Corridor.

A representative of the project monitoring office of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Akponime Omojevwhe, thanked the stakeholders for their cooperation, attributing the absence of reported cases of infractions and vandalism during the period under review of their willingness to work with PINL to boost oil and gas production for the benefit of the nation.