The Oodua People’s Congress, OPC, yesterday pulled out its men from protecting Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, pipelines nationwide.
Its spokesman, Yinka Oguntimehin, in a statement issued in Lagos yesterday said it became necessary because the corporation had yet to start paying for the work its men were doing.
He said the corporation was expected to start payment as part of the contractual agreement entered into three months ago.
Oguntimehin 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.”
President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration had in March awarded a multi-billion naira contract to OPC to secure NNPC pipelines in the South-West region, a development the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, kicked against.
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