PIPELINE SURVEILLANCE HAS BOOSTED ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION IN NIGER DELTA – PINL

June 14, 2025

Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL), a pipeline surveillance company awarded the surveillance and security of the Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP) eastern corridor emphasize the positive impact of its operations in the Niger Delta by reducing pipeline vandalism, a major contributor to the pollution of the region’s environment.

The company recall the unhealthy and deleterious effects of black soot caused by illegal oil bunkering and refining activities before it was awarded the contracted to secure the pipelines three years ago.

Dr Akpos Mezeh, the Community Relations Consultant of PINL, stated this during a stakeholders’ engagement held in Bayelsa State to engage and assess the performance of the company’s operations in the host communities along the TNP eastern corridor. 

“Secondly, we use to experience soot. If you dry your clothes, the next day the colors have changed and of course we are all witnesses that the situation has changed for better and that goes to show that our environment is now enjoying some level of restoration. Our environmentalist here can confirm that we are making good progress,” he stated.

“We have experienced increase in crude oil production and the implication is that we are making oil revenue available for the federal government and that would go a long way to restore confidence of investors in our economy,” he added

In a presentation on the impacts of oil spillage on the environment, the manager, Health, Safety and Environment, HSE, of PINL, Sunday Otoyo called on the community stakeholders to dissuade their children and constituents from bursting the pipelines citing environmental degradation, health challenges and other impacts as consequences.

He also stated that oil spillage pollutes the water bodies and wetlands with long term consequences.

“Oil spillage possess a significant environmental threat, harming marine life, disrupting ecosystems, and damaging human health and economic activities,” he warned.

In his response, one of the stakeholders and President of Movement For the Survival of Ijaw Ethnic Nationality in the Niger Delta, MOSIEND, Amb. (Dr) Tonjo Kennedy West applauded the company for showing exemplary leadership by opening itself for assessment by community stakeholders.

Amb. (Dr) West called on other surveillance companies operating in the Niger Delta to take a cue from PINL and create a better working relationship with host communities.