The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, on Tuesday revealed that he had been receiving threats through messages and phone calls from a militant.
In his speech at the federal government town hall meeting held in Kaduna State, the Minister lamented the outcome of attacks on oil installations, mostly carried out in the Niger Delta region.
He noted that the incessant attacks and destruction of pipelines was draining the country’s resources, but added that the government was on top of the situation.
In his words, “Last week, my phone number was published in Sahara Reporters and then I began to get millions of phone calls.”
“One of the first phone calls I took not knowing who was calling me was from a militant somewhere and when I picked up the phone, he said, ‘Are you the minister of petroleum’, I stated yes.
“He stated I dey go blow pipeline tomorrow, and I stated why would you do that my brother if you love Nigerians? He said ‘are you sure you are the minister’, I stated yes.
“Then he stated for being so humble, I will drop the plan. That’s the kind of environment under which we operate.”
Kachikwu further pleaded with Nigerians to be patient over the current economic challenges facing the country, stressing that the Buhari-led administration has the ability to bring the situation under control.
He added, “The reality of our situation is that wherever I turn when I was appointed, I had problems. If I turn to the refineries when I joined in October, they were not working. If I turned to the pipelines, they were non-existent.
“But I wasn’t discouraged, because if I had problems, what will I say of a man who at his age took over the mantle of this country? His Excellency, the president so that gave me a lot of encouragement,” he concluded.
.....