Eight GunBoats Commission to Bolster Waterways, Oil Installations Security
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The Eight Gunboats Commissioned on Display at the event in Port Harcourt
The Federal Government of Nigeria, FGN, has commissioned eight gunboats to strengthen the combative capacity of the National Security and Civil Defense Corps, NSCDC, Anti-Vandalism Squad, to efficiently and effectively stem the tide of huge national revenue loss to bandits, pirates and pipeline vandals in the oil sector.
Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Interior, at the official commissioning of the gunboats which took place in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, said with the gunboats commissioning the NSCDC fight against economic saboteurs is hereby renewed.
He said that “the Country in recent past, had recorded various occurrences of crude oil theft and reports, has shown that the country loses millions of dollars daily such that of the 141 million barrels of oil produced, in the 1st quarter of the year 2022, only 132 million barrels of oil were received, at export terminals; the aftermath results further reveal that over 9 million barrels of oil were lost to crude oil theft.”
The minister charged all the Security Agencies to shun Inter-agency rivalries, cooperate and collaborate in the onerous task of fighting against Oil theft, in order to salvage and rid the nation’s economy of saboteurs.
Engr Rauf Aregbesola reminded NSCDC operatives that while safeguarding Critical National Assets and Infrastructure they should deploy the available logistics provided by the government to reduce the crime rate and by extension take the war against crude oil theft to the camp of the enemies.
The NSCDC Commandant General, Dr Ahmed Abubakar Audi, pledged that the eight newly, commissioned gunboats would boost the morale of the Corps, in combating the menace of Crude Oil theft along the waterways.
“The NSCDC is generally expected to effectively, safeguard Critical Infrastructure and oil installations, which are very central and vital, to the socio-economic development of the nation”, he said.
Dr Ahmed Abubakar Audi announced that a marching order had been issued to all Zonal Commanders, State Commandants and Heads of the Anti-vandal Unit, across formations to be battle ready with a renewed vigour to stamp out oil theft and pipeline vandalism in the nation.
The Commandant General reassured the nation of the Corps’ determination and unwavering commitment, to the war against illegal oil bunkering as the gunboats would be distributed to States in the coastal region for heightened surveillance and combat readiness
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