Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL), led by Osahon Okunbo, has strengthened its community relations across the Niger Delta. Stakeholders in Rivers and Bayelsa States renewed their commitment to peaceful relations and the protection of critical pipeline infrastructure during the company’s October 2026 Stakeholders’ Engagement Forum.
The two-day forum took place on October 9 and 10, 2026, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. It gathered traditional rulers, youth leaders, environmental advocates, and community representatives. The event forms part of a sustained engagement programme driven by Okunbo, who prioritises direct contact with host communities to support pipeline surveillance operations.
Akpos Mezeh, the general manager of the Community and Stakeholders Relations announced that PINL recorded two consecutive months without any pipeline vandalisation across its operational areas in the Niger Delta. He credited this achievement to effective collaboration among host communities, security agencies, surveillance personnel, and industry operators.
Mezeh emphasized that infrastructure delivers value only when adequately protected, noting that sustainable production relies on trust among government, industry operators, and host communities. He stated that stakeholders along the Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP) and the Eastern Gas Network (EGN) are vital to helping Nigeria achieve its oil and gas production targets for 2027 and 2030.
Mezeh referenced NNPC Ltd’s audited results for 2025, which reported a profit after tax of 7.2 trillion naira, representing a 33 percent increase from 5.4 trillion naira in 2024. Crude oil and condensate production averaged 1.77 million barrels per day in 2025-the highest level in five years-while natural gas production averaged 7.2 billion standard cubic feet per day, reaching a three-year high.
Highlighting community benefits, Mezeh reported that PINL’s surveillance operations have provided employment for more than 35,000 youths. Additionally, the company’s scholarship programme has awarded over 2 billion naira to more than 1,500 undergraduate and postgraduate students. He also urged stakeholders to dismiss an unverified campaign of calumny against the company.
Stakeholders expressed satisfaction with PINL’s performance and urged the federal government to expand its contract. NNPC Project Monitoring Office Field Operations Omojevwhe Akponime Head Engr noted that daily reviews show pipelines within PINL’s coverage running green. Omuma Kingdom monarch Eze Eberi-Ugo IX, Onyekachi Amaonwu, stressed that national output targets require grassroots cooperation, remarking that pipelines are located within local communities rather than in Abuja.
Eze Ekpeye-Logbo Kelvin Anugwo stated that communities across Ekpeye land have resumed farming and fishing due to a reduction in crude oil theft. Niger Delta Ethnic Youth Leaders Forum spokesperson Legborsi Yamaabana commended the federal government for renewing PINL’s contract, declaring that the region has adopted the company as its own.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in Bayelsa urged authorities to address environmental risks from ageing pipelines, abandoned wellheads, and gas flaring. Ekpetiama Kingdom monarch King Bubaraye Dakolo Agada IV stressed that pipeline protection must also cover infrastructure-related risks. Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide President Doubra Okotete praised surveillance contractors for recording zero fatalities and appealed to the federal government and NNPC Ltd to replace pipelines aged over 60 years.