The Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP), which recently exploded, has been restored to full function, and usual supplies to the Bonny oil terminal have resumed, an indigenous pipeline surveillance firm, Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL), has stated.
According to PINL, the swift intervention was made possible through the cooperation of host communities in the area.
PINL’s Community Relations Consultant, Dr. Akpos Meze, stated this in Port Harcourt on Monday during a stakeholders’ meeting between the company and TNP host communities in Abia, Imo, and Rivers States.
Meze also noted that efforts are ongoing to involve the TNP’s 215 host communities in their programs, disclosing that the firm has planned skills acquisition programs, scholarships, and other schemes to equip the youths and sustain them in the communities.
He said: “Based on the needs assessment from the various communities, we have skills acquisition, scholarship, and other initiatives to equip the youths and sustain them in the communities.
“In the next month, we will deploy our teams to selected points to provide medical outreach to indigent residents who may not have the resources to afford such facilities.
“We are also providing piped water to some of the host communities. We have already provided such water for Asarama community in Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State.”
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The communities commended the firm for its commitment to securing the pipelines, which are national assets, applauding its engagement with host communities, which has empowered the people and brought peace.
In his remarks, a traditional ruler, King Philip Obelle, called on the surveillance company to link the people of the host communities to the federal government, as they are suffering from the effects of oil exploration in the region.
Obelle, who is the traditional ruler of Eleme Kingdom, said: “I can assure you that since I came in contact with them, they have been interacting with the people.
“However, we acknowledge the importance of the work they are doing, but we want PINL to take our concerns to Abuja. Our communities are suffering from the effects of oil pollution.
“We have been experiencing different kinds of illnesses because of oil exploration activities. We experience what they call acid rain, and the tops of our buildings are deteriorating.”
On his part, the President of the Movement for the Survival of Izon Ethnic Nationalities in the Niger Delta (MOSIEND), Dr. Kennedy West, called on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to fulfill its obligations under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) as they affect host communities.
