Community leaders will be held liable for attacks on oil, gas facilities – JTF
The Joint Taskforce (JTF), Operation PULO SHIELD (OPS) has warned that community leaders would henceforth be held responsible for any attack on the country’s oil and gas facilities in their domains.
The JTF Commander, Maj.-Gen. Alani Okunlola, gave the warning on Sunday while inspecting the site of Friday’s pipeline explosion site at Egwa 11, Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta.
Okunlola, who led other security personnel to the explosion site, also warned that henceforth, extant laws banning the use of outboard engines with 200 horsepower and above would be enforced in the region.
“This warning is coming as a result of the recent multiple attacks on oil facilities and platforms by suspected militants in the Niger Delta,’’ he said.
The JTF commander, who described the acts as economic sabotage, assured that the command would apprehend the perpetrators.
He, therefore, advised them to desist from further destruction of the nation’s oil and gas facilities.
He called on government officials and community leaders to furnished OPS and other security agencies with information that would facilitate the arrest of the perpetrators of the attacks.
He said that the acts were criminal in nature and were capable of undermining the security of the country.
“There is no way we will fold our hands and allow the criminals to get away with it.
“It is a massive sabotage and critical to national assets; we must fish out those responsible for it.
“We don’t have our men on ground in the area that is why they were able to carry out the act,’’ he said.
He assured Niger Delta residents of JTF’s determination to eliminate illegality from the region.
The Brigade Commander, Brig.-Gen. Farouk Yahaya and the Commander, 3 Battalion, Igwe Omoke were on the team that visited the explosion site.
Others are Commander, Nigeria Navy Ship (NNS) Delta, Commodore Raimi Mohammed and other top-ranking personnel from the Police and Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps.
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3 Comments
How many Emirs did d army arrested so far in NE?….Preying on d defenseless always is d hall mark of d upgraded man-o-war called d Nigerian army. …Hahahaha ?
Excellent proposition. I wonder how these attacks in rural areas will happen devoid of local involvement. Raise the vigilance of the locals. The pipes are the responsibility of all citizens particularly those closer to the locations.
It is an irresponsible proposition/threat in my opinion. Where does that happen? Is this how we would open our eyes and allow elimination of rule of laws just bcos some beneficiaries of tax payers sweat are incapable of doing their jobs?
We will review and take appropriate action.