Owous Owoupele, National Servant of the Reformed Niger Delta Ex Agitators Forum, has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to decentralize Nigeria’s oil pipeline protection contracts, calling for allocation of responsibility across states and local stakeholders in the Niger Delta to restore peace and curb alleged abuses.

Speaking on behalf of the group, Owous described the current concentration of pipeline security in the hands of Tantita Security Service and a small number of contractors as a “grave error” that excludes many local stakeholders. He said that monopolising the contracts has fuelled mounting complaints of human rights violations — including allegations of kidnapping, unlawful detention and killings — levelled against those entrusted with protection duties and these issues are already in Abuja High Court.

“Leaving the protection of our pipelines to one group has created a permissive environment for abuse,” Owuos said. “If stakeholders in each state managed their own protection responsibilities, many of these atrocities could have been prevented.” He insisted the federal government must act to calm “the deep anger across the Niger Delta” by redistributing contracts to ensure broader local participation and oversight.

Owous specifically called for state-based stewardship: Bayelsa stakeholders, he said, should manage pipeline protection in Bayelsa; Rivers stakeholders should run protection in Rivers, Ondo stalkholder should run the prote tion in Ondo. He argued that ex agitators of the Niger Delta Region’s past struggles — who he said maintained peace and coordinated security efforts at the state level — are better qualified than the current contractors, whom he identified by name in his remarks.

The National Servant warned that equitable distribution of protection contracts is not only a matter of justice but also of politics. “If President Tinubu wants to secure enduring support in 2027, he must include those who have been sidelined,” Owus said, arguing that concentrated control produces only narrow, localized support rather than broad regional buy-in.

Owous urged immediate federal review of oil pipeline protection arrangements and called for mechanisms to include excluded stakeholders, enhance accountability, and prevent further abuses. He said frustrated communities are watching closely and expect urgent remedial action to rebalance the system and protect lives and livelihoods across the Niger Delta.