Illegal refineries: Extend PINL surveillance contract, Rivers lawmakers task FG

Some members of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Dumle Maol, Hon. John Dominic Iderema and Hon. Sokari Goodboy Sokari, representing Gokana, Abua/Odual and Ahoada West constituencies respectively, have called on the federal government to extend the surveillance contract of Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Ltd. (PINL) beyond the current three months.

This is as the lawmakers have rated the company high on its performance on the pipeline surveillance contract across some Niger Delta states.

Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Ltd, PINL, is one of the contractors employed by the federal government to implement its security surveillance policy for oil industry assets, especially pipelines, in the Niger Delta.

The contract which has just lasted nearly a year has PINL covering hundreds of communities in four states: Abia, Bayelsa, Imo and Rivers hosting pipelines and other crude oil assets.

But following the ravaging effects of oil theft, pipeline vandalism and illegal refining, the federal government resorted to the policy of pipeline surveillance with PINL being one of the contractors.

Records show that gross terminal recovery factors have moved from 3% in 2022 to over 97% as at 30th May 2023, attributable to PINL Strategic deployment and operations in the Eastern corridor.

Recently the contract was renewed by the federal government for another three months with expiration date set for sometime in October 2023.

But speaking to journalists on the performance of the contractors, the three lawmakers, whose constituencies are oil facility hosts, expressed joy with PINL for its high-quality performance stating that the company has reduced oil theft through pipeline vandalism and illegal refining of petroleum products by over 90 per cent in its short period of engagement.

They attributed the success of the company to its far reaching community engagement strategy through which they touched base with all stakeholders of pipeline and other facilities hosts communities saying it gave everyone a sense of belonging and made them active participants in fight against the menace of illegal oil bunkering.

The lawmakers, therefore, urged the federal government to extend the surveillance contract sustainably saying that the three-month extension recently granted Pipeline Infrastructure was not long enough. They warned that if the contract was not further renewed the oil thieves might return at the end of the extended three months.

In his statement, Rt. Hon. Maol who represents Gokana constituency, a part of Ogoniland with several kilometers of pipeline, acknowledged that the presence of Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Ltd in his area has saved the people from the multi-dimensional challenges of oil thieves and illegal bunkering.

Rt. Hon Maol who is also Deputy Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly said; “I hear that they were told to be on site for another three months meaning that in days to come their contract will elapse.

“The question is, if you don’t ask them to continue, what will happen to the place, it will be vulnerable for these crude oil thieves to come back and do what they used to do before and we don’t intend to go back to the dark days.

“I believe that asking them to come back will mean that they need to double their efforts and bring innovations that will make them improve and do better than what they are doing now.

“So I urge the federal government to quickly do the needful by extending the contract in a sustainable term, not three months, not one month but a long-term award that will make them relax and think of what to do to sustain what they are already doing”.

According to Hon. Iderema; “If tremendous developments have not been made, I don’t think Mr President would have extended it by three months. For him to have extended by three months, it means he’s satisfied with PINL activities in the Niger Delta.

“Now for me, the three-month period is too short because once they know that pipeline infrastructure is leaving in three months they too will be prepared. That very day that the company pulls out, they will move in and start their illegal activities again.

“I’m proposing for the FG to give them at least one year period of probation again. Whoever the federal government wants to monitor PINL they should bring the person to monitor them for a period of one year, at least. Three months is too short.

“For me going by what we had before they came in I don’t think anybody would want to change a football team that’s winning, they would want to sustain such football team so I believe that the federal government will want to strengthen this pipeline infrastructure so that can achieve greater heights”, Hon. Sokari stated.

The legislators were unanimous in their assessment of Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Ltd,  PINL, saying that they had done credibly well as their presence in the communities has extensively reduced the problems of oil theft and illegal refineries.

The Deputy Speaker said; “before now we have not seen what we are seeing now when it comes to protection of pipelines. Before now, it had been an eyesore. In my community, B-dere it used to be horrible when you saw individuals just wake up one morning and go to destroy pipeline all in the guise of getting crude oil for illegal bunkering.

Hon. Iderema whose Constituency, Abua/Odual a major host of several oil facilities was a flashpoint of illegal bunkering told journalists that prior to the coming of PINL in 2022 “pipeline vandalism was a real menace to the two local government areas” of Abua/Odual & Ahoada East. “It was terrible, it was a big problem for the state and the society”.

“People died, it was becoming unbearable, the soot alone, you can’t fetch water and leave it open for 5 minutes. You know, in these localities, we have open bathrooms. So by the time you fetch water from the tap or the mono pump, by the time you finish bathing, you will notice oil with particles which we learned contain benzine and it can cause cancer.

“You can’t have natural air to breathe, you can’t open your windows because, by the time you open your windows and touch your plates or cutlery, you see black soot. Then it became a permanent stain on the soles of our feet. So I think that was hazardous, it was a big problem”.

On his part, Hon. Sokari Goodboy said; “Honestly speaking, vandalism or oil bunkering affected us so much as a people. The activities of these illegal bunkers and refiners affected our land. It disrupted the ecosystem and negatively impacted agriculture which is the main occupation of my people.

“Before now we don’t know if there was any arrangement between the government and the private sector on how to safeguard these facilities, but lately, we have seen some changes and that move has drastically reduced illegal refining activities that we see around our area”.

Hon. Iderema agreed saying; “Initially when they came, we felt it was going to be a kind of recurring decimal. We didn’t know that it would work. PINL moved straight to wherever they were and life became unbearable for them and they had to leave.

“If I’m going to score them over 100 I will give them 90 and above because the ones you don’t see you can’t score. I will only score the seen ones. And for PINL to have made the youths of these communities, they are happy because they are gainfully employed, they get salary every month. So that one also is a plus for PINL”.

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