The Nigerian federal government has cancelled the pipeline contracts given to ethnic militias by the Goodluck Jonathan administration reports the National Mirror. This means an effective cancellation of all the pipeline contracts given to the OPC and Niger Delta militias. In the meantime, troops of the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Navy have been ordered to take over security of the pipelines.
The decision is believed to be with immediate effect and OPC is already complaining that three of its men were missing after a joint task force made up of soldiers, naval officers and police officers stormed Sagamu, Ogun State to take over their duty of protecting the pipelines. It was learnt that the pipeline protection contracts, worth billions of naira, given to the militias by the Jonathan government was for three months only and expired yesterday, the 15th of June.
The OPC Publicity Secretary, Prince Sylvester Eweka, said in a statement that three of its operatives, Babatunde Adeyemi, Roland Ajayi and Orungbeja Dele-Osagie were missing after confrontation with the task force in Sagamu which attempted a forceful ejection of the ethnic militias.
He said: “At the weekend, NNPC abruptly sent an SMS message terminating the pipeline security contract with effect from June 15, 2015.
“The OPC security outfits involved in the contract are being owed three months by NNPC, and they have been unable to pay personnel on the project.
“On Sunday, a lorry-load of task force members invaded the Sagamu area, claiming it had orders to forcefully reclaim control of the pipeline area. “Irked by this unceremonious move, the private security operatives said they had no signal from their management to vacate the site.
“However, after the ensuing fracas, three men could not be accounted for by their team leaders. “Many of the private security operatives fled the scene, amidst shooting by the task force.