The bandits are now involved in crime as a profitable and less risky way of making easy money since President Buhari did not renew the pipeline protection contracts awarded to militia groups by the Jonathan administration which is partly blamed for the militant invasion of Lagos.
According to intelligence reports from the police, there are strong indications that some of the ex-militants are responsible for the recent upsurge in crime in the state after they lost their source of livelihood. The invasion by the ex-militants in Lagos is posing challenges to the police and other security agencies who are finding it difficult to control the proliferation of firearms in the possession of the renegade militiamen who have now turned to kidnapping and robbery as an alternative way to make easy money. “Since abduction seems to be profitable and less risky, jobless ex-militants and militia group members seem to have found a lucrative business in the kidnapping of hapless citizens.
A senior DSS official said under the administration of Goodluck Jonathan six companies were awarded contracts to guard pipelines belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The pipeline security and surveillance contract, said to have been worth N9.3bn, was carried out between March 15 and June 15, 2015. Some of the companies awarded the pipeline surveillance contract were owned by former Niger Delta militants, self-determination groups and prominent Nigerians including Government Tompolo Ekpumopolo, Mujaheedin Asari-Dokubo, Ateke Toms, Bipobiri Ajube and Ebikabowei Victor Ben (Boyloaf). Others are the compaies of the founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) Fredrick Fasehun and the OPC national co-ordinator, Gani Adams. However, President Buhari did not renew the pipeline protection contracts awarded to the OPC and other militia groups by the Jonathan administration.
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