Nigeria loses N.7bn, as Chevron shuts down stations •JTF arrests Togo’s son, sister

NIGERIA is losing about N700 million, as American oil giant, Chevron , has shut in 50,000 barrels of crude oil per day in Delta State, following the damage done to its facilities on Saturday by the militants.
The pipeline services some oil production platforms in the swamp operations of the company in the oil-rich state, before it was breached by some militants on Saturday.

Findings revealed that some oil flow stations producing about 50,000 barrels of crude oil per day were affected by the action.

The ill-fated pipeline had been ruptured more than five times within two years, a development which led to epileptic operations by the oil major in the area.

The General Manager, Government and Public Affairs of the company, Mr Femi Odumabo, told the Nigerian Tribune in a telephone interview on Sunday night that the pipeline was breached by some faceless persons.

Odumabo stated that the pipeline had been isolated while investigation into the incident had begun.

He, however, declined to confirm the number of the production platforms affected by the action and their production strength.

But an independent source in the oil company, who craved anonymity, said “I can confirm to you that about three flow stations were shut down and we are currently recording a production shut-in of about 50,000 barrel per day (bpd) due to the unfortunate incident.

“This is, no doubt, another setback to the operations of Chevron in the Niger Delta and we hope that the security challenges in the region would be seriously addressed by the authorities and relevant stakeholders.”

Odumabo, in the interview, added that the company’s management decided to suspend operation through the pipeline to prevent damage to the environment.

Meanwhile, the fragile security situation in the Niger Delta region was, again, threatened, as the nine-year-old son of the wanted militant in the region, John Togo, Peres and the his elder sister, Mrs Patie Otoruna, were arrested by the Joint Task Force (JTF), on Sunday.

As of press time time, it could not be confirmed if the action was a bait to force the wanted militant leader to surrender to the authorities.

The Togos were being detained at the Third Battalion, Effurun, the headquarters of Delta sector of JTF.
Togo’s lawyer, Mr Carsley Omo-Irabor, who confirmed the arrest of the duo in a telephone interview with the Nigerian Tribune, asked the authorities of the JTF to release them with immediate effect.

Togo had, last week, asked the JTF to guarantee his safety and restrict the activities of the troops in the creeks as conditions for him to surrender to the security agency.

The spokesman of JTF, Lieutenant-Colonel Anthony Antigha, however, denied knowledge of the arrest of the duo.