The Coalition of Arewa Civil Society Group has urged the federal government to award a contract to secure railway installations to the former militant leader, High Chief Government Ekpemupolo.
This is even as the Arewa group announced its support for the pipeline surveillance contracted awarded to the former warlord by the Nigerian National Petroleum Limited.
The plea is in contradiction of the arguments of another northern group, the Amalgamated Arewa Youth Groups, which kicked against the award of the N4bn contract Monday.
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It also gave the Federal Government and the NNPC an ultimatum to revoke the contract or be forced to either protest or risk legal action.
The group had also urged President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, and Director, Upstream of the NNPC LTD, Mr. Adokiye Tombomelye, for “promoting ethnic and regional interest as well as the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, for using his office to allegedly reward criminality.”
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However, Spokesperson of the Coalition of Arewa Civil Society Groups, Mallam Aminu Abbas, while addressing journalists on Kaduna on Tuesday, described the call for the contract revocation and the sack of state officials as “baseless”.
It further distanced the region from the pronouncement of the “faceless Arewa Group,” adding that contracting pipeline surveillance to Tompolo is a step in the right direction.
He also advised the Federal Government to equally award the contract to secure rail lines from terrorists in the north to Tompolo.
Abbas, lauded the government’s move to engage host communities in the Niger Delta to protect pipeline facilities, saying it would boost the country’s economy.
He stressed any Arewa group ought to be bothered about joining hands with critical stakeholders to address regional insecurity and not about who should get a “pipeline surveillance contract.”
He said, “our attention has been drawn to the unpatriotic call made by a faceless Arewa Group on the crude oil surveillance contract awarded by the federal government through NNPC Limited to a respected Nationalist of repute, Government Ekpemupolo better known as ‘Tompolo.’
“The condemnation call is baseless; hence we distance the good people of northern Nigeria to such a myopic action of some faceless group camouflaging in the name of AREWA.”
“It’s important to note that the era of shadow chasing is over. What is expected of any concern Arewa Group at this critical material time is to engage all concerned stakeholders from within and outside our region on how best to address the lingering problem of insecurity and bring it to a logical end.
“We want to use this medium to thank Mr President for making the right decision because our National asset will be secured even more by engaging the host communities to join hands with our security agencies in protecting these facilities and, in return, would boost the Nigerian economy.”
