From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The Niger Delta Indigenous Movement for Radical Change (NDIMRC) has raised alarm that the life of the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu is under threat.
The group said the threat is over his memo to President Mohammadu Buhari on the alleged shady deals going on in the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation [NNPC].
NDIMRC in a press statement signed by its Nelly Emma, John Sailor and Public Stanley Mukoro, President, Secretary and Public Relations Officer, respectively while calling for an investigations of all the allegations raised by Kachikwu in his memo said the Minister deserved to be treated fairly and accorded due respect.
NDIMRC which alleged it has uncovered plans to allocate 100 % oil blocs to those in the North to the detriment of the people of the Niger Delta Region claimed that the commencement of Operation Crocodile Smile in the Region was to check resistance of the people to the allocation of the oil blocs.
The oil monitoring group which expressed disappointment with the way Kachikwu was being treated said success of the anti-graft war of the federal government would depend on the way the scandal rocking the NNPC is handled.
The statement read in part ” We have been watching the activities of the GMD of the NNPC, Dr. Baru since he came on Board and we are not impressed with the way he is treating the Minister of State for Petroleum and people from the Niger Delta Region working in the NNPC. We have seen that the GMD of NNPC Maikanti Baru is bent on destroying the solid foundation laid by the Minister of State for Petroleum and determined to frustrate the Minister, but we are not going to take this lightly because the oil Dr. Baru is presiding over belongs to the people of the Niger Delta Region and not the North”.
“The Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu must be allowed to take charge of the Board of NNPC which the President inaugurated. Our findings revealed that the recent appointments and postings were done without the knowledge of the Board. We are not happy over the way the Minister is being frustrated. He should be allowed to exercise his power as the Chairman of the NNPC Board. They should let the whole world know why he is not being allowed to function effectively as the Chairman of the Board. The Minister was transparent when he was the GMD of NNPC, he carried out ethnic balancing, but the reverse is now the case since Dr. Baru was appointed. The current Board of the NNPC must be empowered and given free hand to operate. The office of the Minister of State for Petroleum must be saved from further humiliation and disrespect’’