Troops of the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta code-named Operation Delta Safe (OPDS) have carried out a joint operation in Bayelsa State, seizing a tugboat named ‘Aya Oba Olori II’ and a barge, ‘Rampage 13’, loaded with over 200,000 litres of substance suspected to be stolen crude oil.
Rear Admiral Suleiman Apochi, Commander of the JTF, told reporters after the raid in communities in Brass Local Government Area of the state on Wednesday, that the security outfit was committed to curbing oil theft in the region.
Apochi said that oil production figures from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had indicated an upward swing in oil production in the past three years.
He said the country’s oil production output had increased to 2.2 million barrels per day from 900, 000 barrels per day because of the significant progress recorded in the fight against pipeline vandalism, militancy, and kidnapping, among others.
The JTF commander said that oil production rate had three years ago fallen to about 900,000 barrels per day before the security task force was reorganised and repositioned for improved performance.
Apochi said: “Many oil firms have come here to commend us for providing them the enabling environment for the oil business to thrive.
“We have received such feedback from Agip, which at a time, had shut down due to unsustainable levels of oil theft.
“We shall continue to do the best we can in line with our mandate of ‘Operation Delta Safe’, which is essentially to protect oil and gas infrastructure.
“We shall also deter and prevent militancy, sea robbery, and any other forms of criminality within the joint operation area, which will impact positively on the economy of this country.”
Some residents of Brass communities commended the collaboration between the JTF deployed in the Niger Delta and surveillance contractors in tackling crude oil theft.
A community leader at Akassa, Dona Biena, said that the renewed effort was putting oil theft in check, lauding the security outfit for improved patrol of the waterways, which had also reduced the incidents of sea pirates.
According to him, the joint patrol by JTF and local surveillance groups led to seizure of barge on March 17, 2019.
Biena noted that the local surveillance group, Labrador Security, leveraged on its knowledge of the terrain in the creeks and provided intelligence and logistics to the troops of the joint force to nab the oil thieves in the act.
A member of the surveillance group, who participated in the operations, said that the vessel was being pushed by a tugboat named ‘Aya Oba Olori II’ when it was apprehended.
It was gathered that the barge and tugboat were initially anchored at Labrador Security base in a coastal town at Bille and handed over to Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) on March 25.
SOURCE: oglinks.news