There
are strong indications that the Defense authorities will withdraw some
war-tested soldiers from the North-East and deploy them in the Niger Delta as
part of efforts to curb the attacks on oil installations in the region.
It
was gathered on Sunday that the troops would form part of the newly formed
Operation Delta Safe, which was formed to replace the defunct Operation Pulo
Shield in the oil rich region.
The
source was, however, not specific on when the troops would be deployed in the
Niger Delta for the intensified campaign against pipeline attacks and oil
theft.
The Defense headquarters had scrapped the Operation Paulo Shield and replaced it with Operation Delta Safe, which was designed to ensure security and protection of oil installations in the Niger Delta.
The new Task Force, with its operational headquarters in Yenagoa, is designed to have three sectors and five operational bases to cover the entire Niger Delta.
The Defense headquarters had scrapped the Operation Paulo Shield and replaced it with Operation Delta Safe, which was designed to ensure security and protection of oil installations in the Niger Delta.
The new Task Force, with its operational headquarters in Yenagoa, is designed to have three sectors and five operational bases to cover the entire Niger Delta.
The
Acting Director, Defense Information, Brig. Gen. Rabe Abubakar, said the
military authorities would ensure effective equipment for the new task force to
enable it to achieve the purpose for which it was established.
Although
Abubakar neither confirmed nor denied the planned deployment of troops, he
explained that the “reorganization of the task force” was in the interest of
the country and would have the best arsenal and equipment.
He
said, “The overhauling was meant to ensure pro-activeness of the new outfit. We
will, as much as possible, continue to inject new system, new equipment and new
prescriptions to ensure that what happened before will not happen now.
“And
so, the Defence Headquarters came up with the reorganization, and it meant well
for the country and it meant well for the industries there. So we are doing all
these things to ensure that we do our best, with the best arsenal, with the
best equipment, so that we can handle the security threat.
“But
injecting new men or injecting more men is not the issue. The most important is
that the reorganisation has been done and it is for the goodness of country,
for the good of that general area.
“And
we will do everything to secure all necessary spots, human, equipment and what
have you to ensure that it performs optimally.”
Meanwhile,
the Federal Government will soon publicise its official position as regards the
conditions set out by the militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers, for peace
talks on the ongoing security threat in the Niger Delta region.
The
NDA had, on Saturday, asked President Muhammadu Buhari to visit the Niger Delta
region to see the difficulties the dwellers were experiencing despite the huge
revenue accruable to the country from the region.
Buhari
had, on Friday, reportedly appealed to the group “in God’s name” to stop
destroying oil installations.
On
when the government would visit the region officially based on the militants’
request, officials at the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation said the Federal Government was working
on the issue and would make its position public very soon.
“Any
official position from the government will be issued very soon on this
development, but I cannot tell when precisely,” the spokesperson for the NNPC,
Mr. Garba-Deen Mohammed, told one of our correspondents on Sunday in Abuja.
“It
is going to come from the government. This thing is a very delicate issue and
it is not something that one will just make or issue a statement about because
it concerns all of us.
“So
it is not just a petroleum ministry or NNPC issue. It is something that affects
us all and so the government is working on the matter.”
Another
official at the petroleum ministry told The PUNCH on Sunday that the
Office of the National Security Adviser and the Presidency were collaborating
with the ministry as the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe
Kachikwu, was among key government officials involved in talks with the
militants.
“As
you know, the Minister of State (petroleum resources) is among those
spearheading talks and, of course, we are working with other agencies of
government on this issue and very soon, an official position will be made
public,” the official, who spoke to one of our correspondents on condition of
anonymity, said.
The
Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, has said dialogue remains the only
solution to the crisis in the Niger Delta region.
Speaking
with reporters after his conferment with a honourary Doctorate Degree in Public
Administration by the Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, on Saturday, Dickson,
while admitting there were grievances in the region, advised parties to embrace
peace in resolving the insurgence.
He
received the honour alongside the Chancellor of the University and the Alara of
Aramoko Ekiti, Oba Abdul Azeez Adeyemi, and the Ekiti State-born legal
practitioner, Mr. Gbenga Oyebode, who is also involved in banking and oil and
gas industries.
Dickson
said, “We are all concerned about the development; all the leaders there are
concerned about the recent tough surge of insurgency. We are collaborating on
the way forward.
“Those
of us, who are governors in our states, are working hard with traditional
leaders and opinion leaders and security agencies and also collaborating with
other private and corporate bodies to ensure that we put it under control.
“The
way forward is not war, war. It is jaw-jaw. The way forward is peace and
dialogue, it is consensus building and that is quite what some of us are in
support of.
“We
are not in support of violence; we are not in support brigandage. We are not in
support of destruction of strategic national assets and killings. We know there
is an issue and this issue can only be addressed when all stakeholders work
together for unity, peace, prosperity and stability and progress of our
country.”
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