MEND claims responsibilty for NNPC facility explosion

….claims amnesty programme is a fraud. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND,  today claimed  responsibility over  yesterday’s  petrol explosion at  NNPC’s Okrika Jetty which claimed 7 lives and left scores of people severely injured. The group in a press statement issued in Port Harcourt and signed by its spokesman Jomo Gbomo […]

….claims amnesty programme is a fraud.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND,  today claimed  responsibility over  yesterday’s  petrol explosion at  NNPC’s Okrika Jetty which claimed 7 lives and left scores of people severely injured. The group in a press statement issued in Port Harcourt and signed by its spokesman Jomo Gbomo said the explosion was a  deliberate act of sabotage in tandem with what it tagged  “Operation Hurricane Exodus”.
 
The  statement  released online, stated thus “This attack is in line with our on-going operation ‘Hurricane Exodus’, which was intended to bring down the entire refining facility. This facility was infiltrated by a few of our fighters with the aid of our internal agents within the NNPC contrary to  speculation that the sabotage was carried out by “pipeline vandals and oil thieves”, which is a very convenient phrase used in shielding the truth from the public.”
 
The group maintained that “thorough investigations will reveal bomb fragments are the same used in the Warri Refinery explosion of Tuesday, 22 October, 2013”.
 
According to the statement  “We will persist with our attacks on the Nigerian oil industry due to the inaction of President Goodluck Jonathan who continues to rely on an unsustainable and fraudulent Niger Delta Amnesty programme which is only a guise to line the pockets of Goodluck Jonathan, his wife Patience, Jonathan’s cronies and members of the Amnesty Committee whose sudden wealth remains unchallenged by the Nigerian media”.
 
‘’Operation Hurricane Exodus is still on course. The entire Amnesty process is a fraud on the people of Nigeria who are being promised peace in the Niger Delta, in the absence of justice”. 
 
Meantime, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSON) today called on the Federal Government to launch a thorough investigation to decipher the circumstances that led to the explosion at the NNPC Loading Jetty, at Okrika, in Okrika Local Government Area.
 
 National Publicity Officer of PENGASSON, Mohammed Seyi Gambo, in reaction to the explosion appealed to the Federal Government to launch a thorough investigation to unravel the real cause of the explosion at the NNPC jetty to forestall future occurrence.
 
He frowned at the alleged act of oil theft at the NNPC jetty under the watchful eyes of security operatives at the jetty.
 
“It is unfortunate that for years now, PENGASSAN has now brought to the front burner the issue of petrol theft and illegal oil bunkering and little or nothing has been done. Under our very noses this is happening. The report we also got is that there is a conspiracy to make sure that this incident  is swept under the carpet. We are, therefore, calling on the government to rise up to this economic sabotage. This is also an embarrassment to the government of today” he stated.
 
The national officer also commiserated with the families of those burnt to death at the NNPC jetty in Okirika.
 
According to him  “It is a very sad day. We woke up to hear this sad news and the report getting to us is that many Nigerians unfortunately lost their lives to it. And we sympathise with the families of the deceased and we also pray that government will come and see to the treatment of those who were burnt and receiving treatment in hospitals”.
 
“That being said, it is so unfortunate that for years now PENGASSAN has been brought to the front burner the issue of petrol theft and illegal oil bunkering and little or nothing has been done”.
 
Rivers State Police Command said its yet to ascertain the actual number of those who died considering the marshy terrain where the incident occurred. Neither the NNPC nor the police were willing to say much on where those who were severely burnt are being treated, or what hospital the dead were taken to.      
 
The Executive Director, Services, of the NNPC, Ralph Ugwu, reiterated yesterday that none of the corporation’s facility or equipment was damaged by the fire explosion. He maintained that the explosion was caused  by oil vandals who had attempted to illegally siphon petroleum product belonging to the NNPC.