No fewer than three pipelines have been destroyed by a group, the Niger Delta Liberation Movement (NDLM), over purported “refusal” by Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) to make available its recruitment quota for host communities, as well as adhere to the Nigeria’s Local Content Act.
The group otherwise known as “Movement” in a syndicated statement by its secretary, Emmanuel Tagbanaraewumi, said the affected pipelines which are along the Olero-Dibi-Abiteye Fields/Flow stations were burst at about 2:00 am, Friday.
The statement reads in part: “These multiple blasts are the start of the operations code-named CHEVRON DRAGNET. We promise a shocker as we vow to continue to hit facilities used for crude oil exploration activities in the whole of Warri areas, till Chevron does the needful as this is just the beginning of operation CHEVRON DRAGNET.
“It would be recalled several host communities and organizations from the Itsekiri extraction, had called upon Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) to make available their employment quota in the firm’s ongoing recruitment scheme, but to no avail.
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“We had earlier made demands for the unconditional conversion of VTP5/OTP2 and VTP6 amongst others and these demands were not attended to.
“The MOVEMENT is bringing to the notice of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and Chevron in particular, that we are in support of these calls and therefore announce the launch of an operation, CHEVRON DRAGNET.
“The operation CHEVRON DRAGNET has become unavoidable, because Chevron had refused to listen to her host communities and organisations from the Itsekiri extraction, calling for the implementation of Local Content Law and allocate to her the rightful quota of the ongoing Chevron Nigeria Limited recruitment by a consulting firm known as Dragnet.