The Niger Delta Liberators Force (NDLF), a militia group, has taken responsibility for the recent attacks on oil facilities belonging to the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company Ltd (NPDC) in the Emevor area of Isoko North Local Government Area and the Otu-Jeremi area of Ughelli South Local Government Area in Delta State. The group, which operates across ten local government areas in the state, stated that these attacks were carried out to bring attention to the alleged neglect of their ethnic communities by the federal government regarding pipeline surveillance contracts.
In a statement released by ‘General’ Flame Thrower on behalf of the NDLF, the group highlighted the grievances of the Isoko and Urhobo nations. They pointed out that Isoko Land was the second place in Nigeria where commercial quantities of crude oil were discovered after Oloibiri in Bayelsa State in 1958. Despite this, the pipeline facilities in the region have not been adequately maintained.
The group claimed that the federal government has disregarded the Isoko and Urhobo nations in the allocation of pipeline surveillance contracts. They accused the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company’s Managing Director, Mr. Ali Muhammed Zahra, and the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, Mr. Mele Kolo Kyari, of granting the contract meant for the Isoko and Urhobo communities to Tantita Security, owned by the Ijaws, another ethnic group in the region.
The NDLF expressed their opposition to such actions, stating that the Isoko and Urhobo nations refuse to be subordinate to any other ethnic group. They criticized the International Oil Companies operating in the OML 30/34 areas, namely Heritage Oil and Shoreline, for allegedly disregarding the Local Content Act and offering only unskilled labor positions to the host communities.
The group demanded transparency regarding the workforce of these companies and called upon President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon Sheriff Oborevwori, to take decisive action to address these issues. They warned that unless these grievances were resolved, further attacks on oil facilities in the Isoko and Urhobo lands would occur, as their members were prepared to halt all crude oil exploration activities in those areas.
