Chineme Okafor and Peace Ewere in Abuja
The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) on Wednesday said its members across the country do not have the skillset to blow up petroleum pipelines.
By this, engineers have refuted the recent claim by President Muhammadu Buhari that professionals with engineering skills, and not ordinary Nigerians, were involved in the blowing up of oil pipelines in the Niger Delta region.
The nation’s number one citizen had made the observation during his investiture as the Grand Patron of the Nigerian Academy of Engineering (NAE) at the State House in Abuja.
He said: “If I will go in the negative side, how can an ordinary Nigerian go into the sea, 70 kilometres or more, go down two metres and blow up oil installations? That cannot be an ordinary Nigerian.
“So, I hope you will appeal to your colleagues to make sure that what we have built, they should safeguard it; whether they are working with multi-nationals or the government.”
But speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on the outcome of the African Engineering Conference on Energy which was held recently in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, the President of NSE, Otis Anyaeji stated that the society was sure none of its registered members had engaged in pipelines vandalism in the country.
Anyaeji said Buhari may have made such remarks in passing, he however maintained that no member of the NSE had even been found guilty of contributing to the incessant collapse of houses in the country.
“Engineers bombing pipeline is impossible. Our registered members don’t even get involved in building collapses that are happening all over the country not to talk of engineers using dynamites to bomb pipelines,” Anyaeji said.
