In Nigeria, the awarding of a lucrative contract for monitoring oil pipelines to Tompolo, a former warlord, is creating a stir in the Niger Delta. Other former “militants” – members of former armed groups who attacked oil infrastructure in the early 2000s – are also asking to benefit from this type of contract.
With our correspondent in Lagos, Liza Fabbian
The contract aims in particular to stop the oil thieves who siphon off national production. Some members of the former armed groups have even issued an ultimatum to President Muhammadu Buhari, summoned to reconsider this agreement with Tompolo.
The contract awarded to the surveillance companies managed by the former leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) may come as a surprise, when we know that Tompolo was prosecuted for several years by the commission of economic and financial crimes, on order of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
It was first young people from northern Nigeria who denounced this reversal, accusing the security forces and the government of showing weakness and giving in to ” blackmail from the former warlord.
In a recent report, the Nigerian channel Arise News traveled to the delta to relay the anger of a group of heavily armed men, frustrated that they too were not benefiting from the millions of dollars granted by the government, while that many pipelines cross their territory.
old “ activists from the Akwa Ibom region have also threatened to resume their attacks on the oil installations if the government does not revoke the contract awarded to the surveillance companies in Tompolo.
In response, several groups representing the interests of communities in the Niger Delta have issued appeals for calm to young people in the region. Supporters of Tompolo, meanwhile, say that those who criticize him fear above all that he will put an end to their illegal activities along the pipelines in the region.
►Also read: Nigeria: controversy over a contract renewal for the benefit of an ex-warlord