…Assures of support to INEC in coastal areas
Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Nigerian Navy has assured of readiness to reduce oil theft and illegal oil bunkering activities in the creeks of the Niger Delta and in the nation’s territorial waters to the barest minimum.
Executive Officer of the Nigerian Navy Ship, NNS Pathfinder, Navy Captain Stanley Umeh, during the first quarter Route March of the Nigerian Navy in Port Harcourt, assured that curbing oil theft and economic sabotage was its primary responsibility.
Umeh explained that the Route March was a show of force against criminal elements and is also aimed at building confidence on the general populace that the Navy and the armed forces were on ground to protect lives and properties.
He assured that the Nigerian Navy will support the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in providing security and support in the movement of electoral materials to coastal communities, during the forth coming 2023 general elections.
“Yes, it goes a long way to show our level of readiness in the state and a deterrence for those who are out there to plunder the national wealth.
“We are always ready to stop them (oil thieves). The work is ongoing and it’s also the Chief of Naval Staff’s strategic directive to ensure that crude oil theft is reduced to the barest minimum in the Niger Delta, and that is our primary responsibility in NNS Pathfinder.
“Route march is a way of enforcing confidence in the general public that members of the Nigerian Navy and the Armed Forces at large, is always ready to be out there in the discharge of our constitutional responsibility to safeguard lives and property.
“We are not contending with anybody, but the show of force is in the direction of protecting the general populace from vandals, miscreants and to build confidence in the populace that they are safe,” he said.
Umeh said the Route March, which is an activity across all naval formations in the country, was a sign of readiness for navy personnel ahead of the election.
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