Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has called on the federal government to fight illegal oil bunkering the same way it fights insurgency.
Wike criticized the federal government for being “indifferent” in the fight against soot in the state.
Wike made the call during a meeting with traditional rulers and the 23 local council chairmen in the state at the Government House, Port Harcourt on Friday.
According to the governor: “I should think that the way the federal government intends to fight insurgency, is the way they should fight illegal oil bunkering, because it is a sabotage on the national economy. Very big sabotage. It affects our own revenue.
“If we are supposed to produce 2 million barrels for example, we are now producing 1.2 million. And in that 1.2 million barrels, it affects Rivers state because we are not producing up to the number we are supposed to produce, and then we can’t get the money to do whatever you want us to do.
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“It is the responsibility of the Federal Government to see how this thing can be stopped. As I speak to you, nobody has called me from the Federal Government to say how they can support us. But that is not my business. My business is the health of my people. I will not because the federal government is not interested to stop it, therefore my people should die. If everybody dies, who are you going to govern?”
