Pay Me And My Members Our Money - OPC Leader, Fasehun Urges President Buhari

OPC Leader, Dr. Fredrick Fasehun

Dr. Fredrick Fasehun yesterday requested that President Buhari-led Federal Government should pay him and his OPC organisation the money owed them for the protection of the nation's oil pipelines. 

Speaking at a quarterly interactive media roundtable in Lagos, the national chairman of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) and the founder of the Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) Dr. Fredrick Fasehun, yesterday requested the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to pay him and his organisation the money owed them for the protection of the nation’s oil pipelines.

He explained that six companies were given the contract by the Goodluck Jonathan administration to guard pipelines belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC).

The OPC boss noted that a total of 18,000 personnel were sent to the field out of which OPC contributed 4,000. Fasehun lamented that his organisation was not given a dime before the contract, adding that after Jonathan’s exit, the contract was terminated with nothing given to the OPC.

"We were given the contract on March 15, 2015 and we deployed youths into the jungle. They faced insects, snakes and other wild animals and some of them even died. The government did not pay us a kobo before or during the time of the contract which ended on June 15.

"We have asked our lawyers to study the terms of the contract. An official in the NNPC told me that we had been paid but I told him that we had not received a penny. We call the attention of the powers that be to look into this. The holy books say that a worker deserves his wage."

He recounted that Lai Mohammed had alleged that Jonathan gave the OPC over N2 billion as mobilisation money for the election under the guise of pipeline protection. Fasehun urged Mohammed to withdraw the statement and correct the wrong impression.

"Someone who is now a minister once told Nigerians that I collected N2.8 billion. Lai Mohammed, who I call a liar, is now the government’s mouthpiece and he must correct that impression," he stated.