The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has suggested that continued militancy in the Niger Delta could lengthen the economic recession that the country is currently suffering. In a statement released on Tuesday, the NNPC lamented the continued attack on energy infrastructure, blaming it for reduced oil production.
Militants in the region, notably the Niger Delta Avengers, have carried a series of coordinated attacks on oil facilities in the country, leading to a drastic drop in the oil production of the country from 2.2 million barrels per day to 1.5 million barrels per day. Their attacks, they claim, are in retaliation for the marginalization they suffer when it comes to distribution the nation’s wealth, Reuters reports.
For a country that funds 70% of its budget from earnings from the sale of oil, NNPC predicts that the continued attacks portend doom for the economy as the Federal Government will continue to lack funds necessary to carry out activities that could boost the economy and resurrect it from its current grave-like state.
Although the Niger Delta Avengers have called a ceasefire in order to negotiate with the government, other minority militant groups have continued attacks on oil facilities leading to a call for renewed integration of all parties in the negotiations.
‘…There is an urgent need for government and security agencies to refocus as well as engage the various host communities’ said the statement.
Parts of this article originally appeared in Reuters.
Hehehe. More Dollars plz? *grabs cheque book*