Murray-Bruce, activist disagree over illegal refineries

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The senator representing Bayelsa-East senatorial district, Mr. Ben Murray-Bruce, has criticised the destruction of illegal refineries by the Federal Government.

According to the senator, the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government should rather have legalised the refineries to increase the country’s refining capacity.

The Operation Pulo Shield in the Niger Delta region, on Thursday, had said its troops destroyed 23 illegal refineries in Bayelsa and Delta states.

In a statement, the Coordinator, Joint Media Campaign Centre, Lieutenant-Colonel Ado Isa, said four suspects were arrested during the operation.

Items discovered included crude oil, locally refined Automotive Gas Oil, 12 cooking pots, 21 drums, 600-metres hose and two pumping machines.

But Murray-Bruce, via his Twitter account, questioned the rationale of the operation and asked the government to legalise unauthorised refineries so as to increase refinery capacity by 20 per cent.

He said, “We have excruciating fuel scarcity, yet we are destroying illegal refineries producing what we lack. Where’s the common sense in that?

“Is it not better to legalise and register the refineries to bring them up to standard rather than depend on imports? If we legalise and register illegal refineries, we may immediately increase our refining capacity by 20 per cent.”

But an Osogbo-based rights activist, Wahid Lawal, on Tuesday, described the comment of Murray-Bruce as absurd, shocking and annoying.

Lawal, who spoke to one of our correspondents on the telephone, cautioned the senator to consider the logic of his statements before making them.

He said, “How can a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria say people who blow up pipelines to siphon the country’s oil should be encouraged and left off the hook.

“He could as well have said Boko Haram members, armed robbers, murderers and kidnappers should be granted state pardon and given national honours when caught. This is a most expensive and warped joke.”

Source: Punch