OPC PULLS OUT OF PIPELINE SURVEILLANCE CONTRACT

The Oodua People’s Congress, OPC, said it would pull out its men from guarding all Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, pipelines nationwide from yesterday.

Mr. Yinka Oguntimehin, spokesman for Gani Adams faction of the congress, said this in Lagos yesterday.

Oguntimehin said it became necessary because the corporation had yet to start paying for the work its men were doing.

He said the corporation was, as part of the contractual agreement entered into three months ago, expected to start payment.

The spokesman said OPC personnel had continued to guard the pipelines with the belief that the corporation would pay as promised.

He said: “When we were given the contract on March 15, it was agreed that they will release money for OPC personnel for effective protection of NNPC pipelines nationwide.

“We lost one man last month because of the activities of the vandals here in Lagos, while some of our men were arrested in the course of protecting the pipeline.

“We had told them to release some of our money before the new administration took over, but they kept promising us.

“Enough is enough. Three months have passed since our members started monitoring the pipeline, and we have fulfilled our part of the agreement.

“By 10p.m. today (yesterday), our personnel will move out of the NNPC pipelines nationwide and this applies to other groups in the country.”

Government had in March awarded a multi-billion naira contract to OPC to secure NNPC pipelines in the South-West region.

…asks police to produce missing operatives

Meanwhile, OPC has asked police to produce three of its operatives guarding petroleum pipelines in Sagamu, Ogun State.

According to a statement by the organisation, those missing were Babatunde Adeyemi, Roland Ajayi and Orungbeja Dele-Osagie.

They reportedly went missing after a confrontation with police in Sagamu, Ogun State, axis of the pipeline security contract that OPC holds with Federal Govern-ment through the New Age Global Business Ltd.