By Princess-Ekwi Ajide, Abuja
For sometime now, there has been power play amongst stakeholders in the production and security of oil and gas architecture in Nigeria as to who is to be blamed on the increasing loss of revenue to oil sabotage in the country.
As the blame game continue, the Nigerian military says it is not directly involved in oil theft but haven been deployed to safeguard pipelines, and the pipelines are compromised, it is normal to be held accountable.
Clarifying this at the Bi-weekly press briefing on the operational activities of the Armed Forces of Nigeria and other Security agencies from the various operational theatres across the 6 geopolitical zones of the country covering the period from 25th August to 8th September 2022, the Director Defence Information, Major General Jimmy Akpor, said stakeholders in the industry, including oil producing companies, security officials, communities, government and oil regulatory bodies should work together to ensure that the integrity of what is produced is maintained.
According to him, the soldiers put their lives on the line daily working in such dangerous terrain.
Earlier, the Director, Media Operations, Major General Musa Danmadami, had said troops of Operation DELTA SAFE in conjunction with the Department of State Service in their kinetic operations, continued denying criminal elements freedom of action, essential to sustaining a conducive environment for economic activities to thrive in the South South zone.
According to him, troops of Operation DELTA SAFE within the period under review discovered and destroyed 67 illegal refining sites, 11 wooden boats, 218 storage tanks, 168 cooking ovens, and 61 dugout pits.
Troops also recovered 2,070,760 litres of Automotive Gas Oil, 15,500 litres of Dual Purpose Kerosine, 67,000 litres of Premium Motor Spirit, eight trucks, three pumping machines, three outboard engines and three generators, and arrested five pipelines vandals.
He gave the cost implication of product seized to be valued at sum N1,235,624,462.45k
Major General Danmadami, while acknowledging the citizenry and media for their assistance to the troops in the discharge of their duties, urged them to continue to provide prompt and creditable information on the activities of enemies of the nation in their locality.
