BY GODWIN OBI
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has given marching orders to the Chief of Defence Staff(CDS), General Christopher Musa to curb the menace of crude oil theft and vandalism in the Niger Delta region of the country in the shortest possible time.
Tinubu, said the order had become necessary as oil theft had become a national issue that needed to be surmounted to boost oil production in the country.
The Group Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited(NNPCL), Mele Kyari, made this known in an interview with journalists at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja, after a meeting of all security and intelligence agency heads convened by the Chief of Defence Staff.
Kyari, while noting that achieving the desired economic stability would be impossible without curbing oil theft and other crimes in the Niger Delta region, said, “We are here to engage with the CDS based on the directive of the president.
He said “The president has directed the CDS to take control of the crisis we are having in the Niger Delta operational area. Oil theft and pipeline vandalism have become a national issue, the president has directed the CDS to contend this within the shortest possible time so that we can restore national production to the level the president and the country is expecting.
“ To do this, he needs the coordination and cooperation of all armed forces, the police, the DIA, the DSS among others. It is the survival of our country that is at stake today. Without restoring oil and gas production, we cannot have the economic stability that we desire. The president is clearly focused on this to deliver value to our country. It is impossible to do this without settling the crisis around our operational areas.
Speaking further, the NNPCL boss said “We are already seeing progress, we are seeing substantial value that is being created by the coordination but we are very convinced that a solution is in sight.”
Also Speaking, the Chief of Defence Staff General Christopher Musa, vowed to eliminate all acts of vandalism and other criminal activities throughout the South-South region.
He said, “The truth about it is that whatever is happening in the South-South has been ongoing for such a very long time. And we feel it is high time that it is stopped. What we are promising Nigerians is that henceforth, the entire South-South will be cleared of any acts of vandalism, or criminality within the general area.
“As we said, the President has given us a mandate to ensure that we secure the entire South-South and to enable NNPC and others to carry out their tasks so that we can have improved production. We know that Nigeria relies so much on what we produce. And so we want to use this medium to appeal to the communities, to have an understanding.”
Gen. Musa while calling on the host communities to trust and give the security agencies the needed support, said, the operations of the security agencies would be harmonised to achieve the task given to him by the president.
“Yes, we know trust has been a problem. But they can trust us, they can trust the government, that we want to do things differently. Everyone will be carried along.
“Everyone has a role to play. It is not only for the security agencies alone. We need the communities to understand that pipeline vandalism and all the hazards being caused are also affecting them directly.”
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