CAN you believe that some of the expatriates who work as experts for the multinational oil corporations operating in the Niger Delta are artisans from places like Egypt and Thailand?
This was the question asked by one of the Niger Delta representatives at the just concluded plenary session, of the Pro-National Conference Organisation (PRONACO) in response to a reporter�s question at a press briefing addressed by the Niger Delta delegates who participated at the five-day confab.
Mr. Isaac Osuoka who read the press statement issued by the group further stated that it was sad that despite the fact that there were thousands of Niger Deltans who are qualified technicians that could do the jobs done by the so-called expatriate experts, the oil companies, still prefers to employ these expatriates while denying the Niger Deltans employment.
Osuoka who threw more light on the cause for the spate of hostage takings in the region stated that the multinational oil corporations operating in the region usually carry out their activities under military cover which is a violation of their earlier pledge to the oil producing communities.
Said Osuoka: �what this means is that the oil companies are lying and are also comfortable with the exploitation going on in the region. Hostage-taking is a symptom of a fundamental crisis in the region.�
Another Niger Delta delegate explained that militant youths in the region resorted to taking hostages because these expatriates are regarded as accomplices in the war which has been declared on the region adding that the hostages were therefore regarded as prisoners of war.