Soldiers are involved in Oil Bunkering – Traditional Ruler tells journalists

The Regent of Ekpeye kingdom which is made up of Ahoada-East and Ahoada-West in Rivers State, Eze Felix Otuwarikpo, has accused officers of Nigerian Army of being in cahoot with criminal elements who engage illegal oil bunkering and continue to vandalise oil pipes, causing environmental pollution in his domain.

The Monarch spoke Monday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, during the opening ceremony of 2019 Correspondents’ Week of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Rivers State, with theme: “Role of the Media in Protecting the Rivers Environment”.

According to him, “the security agents who are supposed chase out criminals involved in illegal oil bunkering who are daily polluting the environment are aiding and abetting the criminals.
“Journalists need to investigate the role of security agents in illegal oil bunkering activities in the state that have contributed immensely to the destruction of the environment.
“I use this opportunity to request members of the Correspondents’ Chapel to visit Ahoada-East and Ahoada-West local government areas.
“I am inviting you because, sometime in June this year, we held a traditional amnesty programme where 334 cultists and militants surrendered and we received their weapons from them. These weapons were handed over to government.