IF the militants who sabotaged crude and gas pipelines in Delta State thought that by their action, they would succeed in brow- beating the Federal Government into bargaining amnesty with them and awarding them contracts for protection of pipelines in the region, then they seriously misfired. According to a militant leader, “General” Levi (not real name), whose group claimed responsibility for the attacks that led to the shutdown of the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries, they would not drop their arms until the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, “meets and negotiates” with them.
Apparently convinced that the damage in the face of dwindling oil price and crash of the Naira might force government to parley with the group, “General” Levi asserted, “We are ready to commence discussion and denounce association with this present situation. Henceforth, we are ready to block any channel for anyone not to go through to bomb oil pipelines.” Bombshell However, the reaction from President Muhammadu Buhari, a week after the explosions that destroyed the Escravos- Warri-Lagos-Abuja gas pipelines and other oil facilities in Warri South-west and Warri north local government areas of Delta State from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, UAE, jolted the militants.

Rather than plead for their understanding with his government, Buhari, during a meeting with the Nigerian community in UAE, vowed to deal with oil thieves, abductors and vandals of oil and gas pipelines.

It was not a story time for the President, who is ruing the attack that is costing the economy a daily loss of N470 million besides the closure of the refineries. Recalling how the armed forces had dealt “deadly blows” on Boko Haram insurgents to re-launch the country on safety path, he declared, “The oil thieves and abductors are a less problematic target. We will re- organize and deal with them.”

Confusion Buhari’s tough mien actually staggered the militants, who held a secret meeting shortly after the January 14-16 attacks to review their exploit. Unknown to them, they had just given Buhari, who, all along, had been trying to be cautious about his actions/ inactions on the unpredictable Niger Delta cannon fodder to unleash his “war” plan. A source said the reaction of the Federal Government threw the militants into disarray, as what they planned was not what they got.

A source said they might likely go back to the drawing board to plot their next move. But the dust their cunning strikes left is rumbling everywhere in the oil rich region. Huge loss A source told Sunday Vanguard, “Because of the strategic importance of Niger Delta to the nation, the Federal Government did not want to do anything that will provoke tension in the region and give people the excuse to blow up oil pipelines. But they have caused it themselves; so they should take anything that comes out of it.” “You can see that Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries have been shut down because of crude supply challenges arising from recent attacks on vital crude oil pipelines. The NNPC shut the plants simultaneously penultimate Sunday after the Bonny –Okirika crude supply line to the Port Harcourt refinery and the Escravos-Warri crude supply line to the Kaduna refinery suffered breaches.”

The NNPC, in a statement by its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ohi Alegbe, said the corporation shut the plants, simultaneously, on Sunday, after the Bonny- Okrika crude supply line to the Port Harcourt refinery, and the Escravos-Warri crude supply line to the Kaduna refinery suffered breaches.

It stated that before the closure, the Port Harcourt refinery was recording a daily petrol yield of over 4.1 million litres, while the Kaduna refinery was posting a daily petrol production of about 1.3 million litres.

According to the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, the vandalism of the gas pipelines would affect negatively the Olorunsogo National Integrated Power Project plant, which has the capacity to supply 600 megawatts of electricity, and other power plants across the country. The Special Adviser on Media to the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Hakeem Bello, disclosed in a statement on Wednesday, that although security agencies had intensified the search for those behind the attack on the pipeline, their action would slow down the country’s power supply system.

Bello stated, “The sabotaged gas pipeline, which contributes to the Escravos-Lagos Pipeline System, has led to a loss of 160mmsfcd of gas daily. At a cost of $2.50 per thousand scf, this loss means about $400,000 loss to the country on a daily basis (N78.8m) in gas volume.”

No more tea party – Defense Minister The Minister of Defense, Brigadier-General Monsur Mohammed-Dan-Ali (retd.), who stopped over in Warri, on Tuesday, for an on-the-spot assessment of the blown-up pipelines, gave a clear indication that the Federal Government was not going to huddle with criminals.

/ http://realnewz.ml/militants-failed-plot-to-arm-twist-buhari/?ckattempt=1

We have heard that before... They have done it already all we awaits now is restoration of supplies to get us moving again..
The people are really suffering..

What's all this!