Pauline Onyibe 
A Niger Delta Security Task Force set up to tackle rising cases of oil pipeline vandalisation and crude oil theft in the nine states of the region, has faulted and described as “retrogressive” the calls by some groups for the revocation of the surveillance contracts for the protection of the 87-kilometre Trans Forcados Crude Oil Pipeline (TFP) operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
The Task Force, known as the Anti-Pipeline Vandalization, Oil Theft and Illegal Bunkering Volunteers and made up of ex-militant groups in the creeks of Niger Delta, said the groups agitating for the revocation of the surveillance contract awarded to the Ocean Marine Solutions are fake and known to be involved in alleged cases of pipeline vandalization and sea piracy. The leader of the Task Force, General Fiawei Pathfinder, in a statement issued and made available to newsmen via electronic mail yesterday, argued that the calls for the dissolution of the crude oil pipeline surveillance contracts was illegal, suspicious and a ploy by the oil bunkerers in the Forcados and Escravos to have an unhindered access to the nation’s crude oil. The statement reads in part: “Nigerians and the security agencies should be aware that there has been a sustained campaign against pipeline vandalization and illegal bunkering activities in the creeks of the Niger Delta, which led to sustainable peace, security and increase in the nation’s oil output.
