SLUG: JTF behind illegal bunkering, pipeline vandalism – NUPENG, TUC

…JTF: It’s a campaign of calumny, NUPENG officials involved

Chief of Army Staff, Gen Ihejirika

The Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta region has accused leaders of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) and the Rivers State Chapter of Trade Union Congress (TUC) of trying to shield illegal bunkerers in the region.

The task force had earlier come under scotching criticisms from NUPENG and TUC, which accused its operatives of aiding and abetting illegal bunkering.

National President of NUPENG, Comrade Atete Igwe, and Rivers TUC chairman, Hyginus Chika Onuegbu JP, accused the officers and men of the JTF, code-named ‘Operation Pulo Shield’ of providing cover for economic saboteurs, insisting that those whose trucks are burnt by the task force are mere scapegoats.

They tasked the JTF to purge itself of corruption before carrying out the war against illegal bunkering, stressing that most of the officers deployed to accomplish the task are “beneficiaries and directly involved.

Orupere with $30,000, he alleged offered JTF Ops Officer

But a furious Lt. Colonel Onyeama Nwachukwu, Coordinator of the Joint Media Campaign Centre of the JTF, told our reporter this morning that contrary to the claim, the unions’ members are neck-deep in the illegal activities.

He hinted that the unions are sponsored by criminals and foreign partners, whose business have been hit by the recent operations of the task force, describing the attack as “campaign of calumny and mudslinging.”

MV Premier,, rogue vessel?

Lt. Col. Nwachukwu, in a long telephone chat with Nation Evening Express this morning, said: “It is on record that our Operations Officer recently rejected a bride of $30,000 (about N4million) from a suspect, Mr. Joshua Orupere for the release of two vessels laden with 1.2metric tones of crude oil suspected to be stolen.

He said the arrest and destruction of over a dozen vessels with the capacity to carry 600,000 metric tons of crude oil each.

He said: “Those involved (in illegal bunkering) are fighting back; they are the ones doing mudslinging and engaging in campaign of calumny against the JTF. I am surprised that our troops can be criticized in the face of putting their lives on line to save the country from these criminals.”

The JTF image maker, however, warned that no amount of intimidation and unwarranted attacks would deter it from carrying out its mandate of crippling illegal bunkering operations in the Niger Delta region.

Courtesy: Nation Evening Express, PH Edition