Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil) Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, has tasked the Defence Headquarters on reducing economic sabotage by protecting oil and gas facilities, in order to ramp up Nigeria’s oil production.
The Minister speaking when he received the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa at the Ministry of Petroleum, pledged to give the Defence Headquarters all necessary support to protect all critical oil facilities to improve oil production.
Lokpobiri emphasized the need to tackle illegal oil bunkering and vandalism in the Niger Delta region, while offering to collaborate more with DHQ to reduce economic sabotage, lamenting that the menace was affecting the nation’s economy.
He said, “Our ongoing efforts to ramp up production must be complemented with adequate security of our oil facility installations. This was the focus of my meeting with the Chief of Defence Staff, General C.G Musa and his team, during which I emphasized the urgent need to tackle illegal bunkering and oil facility vandalism in the Niger Delta region.
“Recognizing the important role of oil and gas investments in our economy, I called upon General Musa to leverage his extensive experience and knowledge of the creeks to address these challenges effectively because protecting these vital assets is paramount to ensuring our economic stability.
“I am confident in General Musa’s ability to coordinate strategic measures and techniques to combat these threats and safeguard our nation’s prosperity, complementary to our efforts to securing our oil and gas infrastructure for the benefit of all Nigerians.”
Earlier, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, pledged the DHQ’s continuous partnership with the ministry in order to address the issues of oil theft, pipeline vandalism, illegal refineries and other economic sabotage perpetuated by criminal elements.
Musa said the Armed Forces of Nigeria will support the Petroleum Ministry to ensure Nigeria maximises the profit from its natural resources, assuring the Minister that Defence Headquarters would provide maximum security to oil facilities in the country.
He said, “Our national assets must be well protected, if that is done, the oil production will rise and economy will improve.”
