Mkpoikana Udoma 26 January 2015, Sweetcrude, Yenegoa – The Commander of the Joint Task Force, JTF, operating in the Niger Delta, codenamed Operation Pulo Shield, Maj. Gen. Emmanuel Jebe Atewe, has warned kidnappers, sea robbers, oil thieves and criminals that engage in criminalities in the region and its environs to look for a legitimate job or risked being crushed.
Maj. Gen. Atewe gave the warning when the new Air Officer Commanding, AOC, Mobility Command of the Nigerian Air Force, Air-Vice Marshal Frank Nyoyoko, paid him a courtesy call at the headquarters of the JTF at Opolo Road, in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.
The JTF Commander, who called on all stakeholders in the region to join hands to fight against criminalities, wondered why people, especially the youths who are supposed to engage in legitimate activities to assist themselves and their families, would rather chose to engage in illegalities and activities that jeopardise government’s effort in building a crime-free nation.
On his zero tolerance campaign against oil theft and illegal oil bunkering in the Niger Delta, the Commander reiterated his commitment towards total eradication of oil-related crimes.
He told the visiting AOC that “the JTF has so far intercepted and arrested several illegal oil bunkering vessels and suspects and handed them over to prosecuting agencies for prosecution”, while commending the Nigerian Air Force for effective manning of aerial operations of the JTF.
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