Nigeria’s military chiefs are presently in the Niger Delta to carry out the orders of President Muhammadu Buahri for them to secure the oil-rich region.

The team is led Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Olanisakin, accompanied by Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ette Ibas.

Speaking Saturday morning in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, during an operational visit to the Headquarters of the Joint Military Force in Niger Delta christened Operation Pulo Sheld, Gen. Olonisakin pledged the resolve of the Nigerian military forces to deal with pipeline vandals, oil thieves, kidnappers, cultists and sundry crimes in the Niger Delta region.

After being conducted round by Commander of Operation Pulo Shield, Maj.-Gen Alani Okunlola, the Defence Chief said that the visit followed the strategic directive of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Muhammad Buhari, to deal with identified security threats in the Niger Delta. He said that the visits was to access the challenges of the troops with a view to addressing them to ensure operational effectiveness in dealing with the threats.

His words: “I am in Yenagoa on operational visit to Operation Pulo Shield as well as the Boat House vessel we have in Akassa.

“It is such that we can understand the challenges they are facing here and address these challenges to enhance their operational effectiveness and efficiency.

“In doing that we have listened to all they have said concerning the challenges and we shall go back and .address some of these challenges so that they can do their jobs much better than they have done in the past.”

On the security challenges in the Niger Delta region, Olonisakin said that following the directive of the President, the defence chiefs had identified 10 security threats to the country at the Niger Delta region.

Said he: “The President and Commander-in-Chief had given a strategic direction, and we must ensure that these directives are carried out to the letter, I have come in company of the Chief of Naval Staff to also address some of these issues.

“The issue here is that we have a lot of security threats in this area, they are about 10 to be precise, and we have identifies all these areas from illegal oil bunkering to oil theft to pipeline vandalism to kidnapping to cultism and all the other oil and gas related criminalities.

“We have looked into that and are ensuring that these issues are properly addressed and we have zero tolerance to militancy and other oil and gas criminalities in the region.

“That is what we have been trying to do and we will achieve it.”

•Photo shows Service Chiefs: L-R; CDS, Maj Gen AG Olonisakin, COAS, Maj Gen Gen TY Buratai, CNS, R Adm IE Ibas and CAS, AVM SB Abubakar.

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