President Muhammadu Buhari Wednesday in Beijing warned vandals and saboteurs blowing up oil and gas installations in Nigeria to desist immediately or face the same drastic action being taken against Boko Haram by the Armed Forces.
Speaking at a meeting with members of the Nigerian Community in China, Buhari also reaffirmed his total commitment to winning the war against corruption, saying that corruption was an arch-enemy of the nation which has destroyed the lives of many Nigerians.
“I ask for your support to make our vision of stamping out corruption a reality in the shortest possible time. Whoever is caught will not be spared.
“The government is still being dared, but those who are sensible should have learnt a lesson. Those who are mad, let them continue in their madness.
“I am aware that in the last two weeks, the national grid collapsed a number of times. I hope this message will reach the vandals and saboteurs who are blowing up pipelines and installations.
“We will deal with them the way we dealt with Boko Haram,” the President declared.
President Buhari assured the Nigerian Community that the Federal Government was working very hard to overcome current national challenges and deliver on its promise of a better Nigeria.
“Clearly, our vision of a diversified and inclusive economy will not be achieved overnight. It will be a long, and in some cases, painful journey. I am very confident we will get there. But we must start that journey now.
“We hear proposals for short cuts or quick wins. However, all we need to do is look at our history to know that there are no quick wins or short cuts in fixing Nigeria. The many decades of damage and destruction cannot be repaired overnight.
“The reform program we are implementing is not because oil prices are below $45 per barrel today. It is because when oil prices were over $100 per barrel, majority of Nigerians were still suffering. They were simply forgotten and left behind. So, our reforms are to ensure that the majority of Nigerians are not left behind,” the President told the gathering.
President Buhari also assured the Nigerian community that his administration was fulfilling its promise to improve security across the country.
“When we came into office in 2015, Boko Haram insurgents occupied 14 Local Government Areas. Today, I am pleased to say the insurgents have been routed out of these local governments and their capacity to fight as a force has been significantly degraded.
Ex-Niger Delta Militants Threaten To Resume Bombardment Of Oil Facilities
Former Niger Delta Militants in Imo State have threatened to return to the creeks to continue with the bombardment of oil company facilities, if federal and the state governments refuse to honour the amnesty agreement reached in 2011.
The third batch of the ex-militants in Imo State accused the Federal Government and the Okorocha-led administration of their refusal to document and train them on the amnesty programme as they did to other former militants.
In a statement signed by the Commander-General of Niger-Delta Ex-militants, Mr. Uzoma Bobby Chukwuka urged the Joint Task Force (JTF) to return their arms, which they surrendered to them based on the amnesty agreement which the government has refused to honour.
The statement read: “We, therefore, ask the authorities responsible for the amnesty programme to document us and train and treat us as others or return all our surrendered work tools or they have asked us to go back to the creeks or our major den. We are ready to die for this shameful deceit if our demands are not met in good time.
“The Niger Delta Ex-militants third batch, Imo State chapter is calling for equity and fair pay. We wish to inform the general public that since 2011 till now that we accepted the amnesty, we surrendered all our arms and this is on record with JTF under the supervision of Caption T.C Okon at 34 Artillery Brigade, Obinze.
“Our colleague in other part of Niger Delta Region have been enjoying the amnesty programme why we were abandoned in Imo state.”
