The Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, has been given orders by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to put an end to the threat of crude oil theft and vandalism in the Niger Delta as soon as feasible.
According to him, the instruction was required because oil theft had grown to be a national problem that needed to be resolved in order to increase the nation’s oil output and revenue.
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Following a meeting called by the chief of staff of the military intelligence community, which included the chiefs of all security and intelligence agencies, Mr. Mele Kyari, the Group CEO of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), revealed this information to journalists at Defence Headquarters in Abuja.
Without reducing oil theft and other crimes in the Niger Delta, Kyari stated, it would be impossible to achieve the intended economic stability.
“We are here to engage with the CDS, based on the president’s directive,” he stated. The Niger Delta operations area is currently experiencing a crisis, which the president has instructed the CDS to take charge of. Vandalism on pipelines and oil theft have grown to be national problems.
“To ensure that national production returns to the level that the president and the people anticipate, the president has instructed the CDS to address this as soon as feasible.
He needs the assistance and coordination of all branches of the armed forces, the police, the DIA, the DSS, and others in order to do this. Right now, our nation’s existence is in jeopardy.
“We cannot achieve the desired level of economic stability if we do not restart the production of oil and gas.” It is evident that the president is concentrating on this to benefit our nation. Without resolving the problem in the vicinity of our operational locations, this cannot be accomplished.
“We are very confident that a solution is in sight, and we are already seeing progress and significant value being created by the coordination.”
General Christopher Musa, the Chief of Defence Staff, promised to end all criminal activity and acts of destruction within the South-South.
“The reality is that whatever is going on in the South-South has been going on for a very long time,” he stated. We believe it is past time to put an end to it.
We assure the people of Nigeria that there would be no more vandalism or general criminal activity throughout the entire South-South.
“We have been given a mandate by the President to make sure that the entire South-South is secured so that NNPC and other parties can complete their jobs and our output will increase.
“We are aware of how heavily Nigeria depends on our output. Therefore, we wish to use this platform to foster understanding and appeal to the communities.
The CDS said the operations of the security agencies will be synchronized to accomplish the duty assigned to him by the president, while urging the host communities to have faith in and provide the necessary assistance for the security agencies.
Yes, we are aware that trust has been lacking. However, people can have faith in the administration and us, knowing that we aim to implement new policies. We’ll all be escorted along.
“Everyone is involved in some way. It is not reserved just for the security services. Communities must be made aware of the fact that pipeline vandalism and the associated risks directly impact them. And that’s what we need to stop,” the CDS stated.
Gen. Musa stated: “We need to work together,” assuring Nigerians that the effects of the security agencies’ coordinated operation would be felt in the following two to three months. And in accordance with the directives from the President, the purpose of our meeting today was to harmonize that.
We’re going to function as a cohesive unit. Every operation will be coordinated. Joining the Joint Task Force will allow us to work together with the land components of the other agencies to produce outcomes.
“I promise that you will see results within the next two or three months, at the latest.”
Speaking as well, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun pledged to take all necessary measures to prevent oil theft and pipeline damage in the Niger Delta.
“We acknowledge that we face difficulties, but we must work together to overcome them,” he remarked. Therefore, we require the participation of all government agencies as well as that of the general public.
“We must take all necessary action to address these challenges. I promise you that you will notice results in the next days.
