FROM IKHILI EBALU, BENIN CITY
Ibenanaowei of Ekpetiama Kingdom in Bayelsa State, King Bubaraye Dakolo has urged the federal government to beam its searchlight on high profile personalities in the country and foreign nationals sabotaging the oil and gas sector.
The monarch, who made the call during an event organised by Health of Mother Earth Foundation, HOMEF, tagged ‘Book Reading with His Royal Highness, King Bubaraye Dakolo,’ in Benin, Edo State, alleged that most of the oil thieves that government are looking for in the Niger Delta are not from the region.
He faulted claims that most of the activities associated with oil theft and pipeline vandalism are perpetrated by Nigerians, particularly among locals in the Niger Delta.
Dakolo said part of the problem of the oil rich Niger Delta is the issue of oil theft, which has undermined the development of the region.
Dakolo, who said these oil thieves could be residing faraway in other countries, noted that those paraded by the federal government are victims of the menace.
“Some of the oil thieves have private jets, yacht and private refineries abroad,” he pointed out.
Dakolo urged the federal government to correct the notion that Niger Deltans are part of the oil thieves sabotaging development in the region.
Earlier, the Executive Director of Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Nnimmo Bassey described King Dakolo as an environmental and human rights activist of repute, as well as an intellectual partner of the Ijaw struggle for resource control in the 1990s.
