PENGASSAN wants military deployed to Niger Delta

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been urged by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) to send more military troops to the Niger Delta in order to prevent crude oil theft and increase national revenue.

The call was made by PENGASSAN President Comrade Festus Osifo outside of the Association’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, according to Daily Independent.

According to him, the deployment would protect oil production even more and boost output by about 30%, which could be utilised to stabilise the nation’s economy.

He said the oil sector remains the instant cash cow of the Nigerian economy as such must be given more attention, even as attempts are being made to diversify the economy in the solid mineral and agriculture sec­tors to generate more revenue for the country.

“We implore government President Tinubu to ask his commanders to relocate to Niger Delta and ensure that this menace of crude oil theft is put to a halt for more revenue to be generated and at the end of the day, the Nigerian state will be better for it,” he said.

He urged the military to exercise caution while try­ing to fish out the killers of military personnel in the Okuoma community in Delta state so that the innocent ones would not become victims.

“We condemn what happened in the Okuoma com­munity. The government should do everything possible to bring the perpetrators of the act to book and justice be served. However, we want the military to approach the issue with caution to avoid a repeat of what hap­pened in Zaki Biam and Odi,” he said.

Reacting on the increment of electricity Tariff for band A consumers, Osifo said the Association is still studying the development and will soon come out with a statement but was quick to add that the increment from N66 naira to N225 naira per kilowatt is on the high side.

“We are still studying it. There is the need for inter­rogation and intervention by the Association so that the policy will not quickly snowball to the other bands where the downtrodden are,” he said.

He added that the Association was excited by the reduction of Diesel price by the Dangote refinery to N1,225 per liter from about N1,700 per litter, stressing that it will impact the economy positively.