Multinational Oil Company, Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, Nigeria, has kicked against the federal government’s plan to dialogue with militant groups blowing up pipelines in the Niger Delta region.
According to the SPDC, militants should be singled out as criminals and treated as such.
The company’s view was aired by its Managing Director and Country Chair, Osagie Okunbor during a chat with Business Times over the weekend.
The company was reacting to the offer of dialogue with the Niger Delta Avengers, which has claimed bombing of oil installations in the region since February, 2016 and other militant groups.
The activities of militants, especially the NDA, has seen Nigeria’s crude oil production crumble from 2.2MBPD to less than a million barrels per day.
While describing the havoc already wreaked by militants on the company’s pipelines in the Niger Delta and his perception about the group, Mr. Okunbor said while dialogue was a welcome development, it should be with the peaceful people of the region, not militants, who he said should be dealt with by the federal government.
“Militants should be singled out as criminals and should be dealt with as criminals. The government needs not dialogue with them because they are determined to wreck this country. The FG should take necessary steps against these people if they want to sustain the oil business in Nigeria. Of course, we don’t totally rule out dialogue here but not with militants. The government can dialogue with the peaceful people of the region”, he said.
FG Should Deal With Militants As Criminals, Not Dialogue – Shell
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