27 September 2012, Sweetcrude, PORT HARCOURT – THE Joint Task Force, JTF, Operation Pulo Shield has asked for useful and timely information from stakeholders in the Niger Delta region to aid its crusade against illegal bunkering operations.
Speaking at a forum with petroleum marketers and other stakeholders on the oil and gas in Port Harcourt, Brigade Commander of Second Brigade, Brigadier-
General Tukur Buratai said there was need for collaborative effort among stakeholders and the security agencies to reduce illegal oil bunkering in the country.
Buratai appealed for what he described as collective watch on the part of stakeholders to end the illicit trade, adding that JTF would continue to provide security for vessels doing legal business on the water ways.
According to him, JTF demolished a filling station in the state recently and also seized two others in its bid to rid the state of the illicit trade.
Buratai assured stakeholders that the security agencies would continue to partner with them to reduce incidents of oil theft and other related offences.
Some stakeholders, who spoke at the forum, called on the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, to set up its own laboratory for petroleum products analysis, as this would help in the crusade against sale of adulterated petroleum products.