The organised private sector in Rivers State has warned that the spate of hostage taking in the Niger Delta could result in the exodus of experts in the oil industry from the region.
Already, the deep offshore logistics in the industry has shifted base to Lagos as a result of insecurity in the region.
Spokesperson of the Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (PHCCIMA), Mr Bank-Anthony Okoroafor, told journalists in Port Harcourt that mass unemployment was imminent in the region due to the development.
Okoroafor, who has been chairman of the PHCCIMA Oil and Gas Committee for years, said hostage-taking would only scare away experts and skilled workers from the region.
He said a lot of jobs had been lost as a result of the movement of the deep offshore logistics to Lagos.
“We do not support hostage-taking or any form of militancy. We always want a peaceful and political means of solving this problem. We do not want to scare the experts and skilled workers from the Niger Delta. We want improved operations,” he remarked.
Okoroafor, however, stressed that there was need for the government to implement the Niger Delta development master plan, as most people saw the problem in the region as purely a government matter, but noted that companies must cooperate so as to solve the problems.
He said only a genuine stakeholders� meeting including the private sector could find solutions to the crises, adding that the Chamber led by Prince Billy Harry was looking forward to such meeting.
Clashes between soldiers and militants in the region recently resulted in the shutting down of the Ekulama oil platform in the state with the loss of 9,000 barrels of oil per day.