Group reacts to N39m allegedly stolen from HYPREP

From Tony John, Port Harcourt

The Ogoni Civil Society Stakeholders Forum (OCISOF) has expressed concern over a whopping N39 million allegedly stolen by a naval rating attached to the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), from his commander in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The Chairman of OCISOF, Lekia Christian, in a statement issued in Port Harcourt, yesterday, said a critical evaluation of the allegation which was trending on social media, showed that the report was intended to threaten the security architecture in HYPREP.

He said with the high security machinery in the Federal Government agency, it was unimaginable how a naval rating could move N39 million cash from HYPREP undetected.

His words: “We want to make it categorically clear that OCISOF does not, and will never support corruption under any guise. We have looked at the said report, and would have ignored it; but, considering the grave implication of our silence and its attendant consequences, decided to do a critical evaluation of the situation and, hence, our position.

“From the report, we saw no proof of the said N39 million being moved electronically. We equally wondered how possible it was, for the naval rating to have successfully stolen such an amount within an operational intelligence community, where surveillance, in personnel and cameras, should have been in place, without being caught?

“We aĺso believe that security funding within HYPREP should be detailed and classified, and that corruption cannot easily creep into the process without been detected.

“The report also revealed that the naval rating left on account of his wife’s ill-health. A careful analysis of that report by our thinking, suggests a likely clinical attempt to create a pseudo-climate of tension and confusion, within the security architecture of HYPREP, for reasons and motives, best known to those who may have contemplated it.”

“We, therefore, wish to advice members of the noble journalism profession to be very thorough, unbiased and always cross-checking their facts before going to press.”