By Abisola THOMPSON
Coastal communities in Bayelsa have praised the Joint Task Force (JTF) deployed to the Niger Delta and surveillance contractors deployed in the area for working collaboratively to address oil theft.
TBI Africa said that Chief Dona Biena, a community leader at Akassa in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday that the renewed effort was putting oil theft in check.
Biena, who commended the joint task force for improved patrol of the waterways, said that their efforts had led to a reduction in the activities of sea pirates.
He said that the joint patrol by JTF and local surveillance groups led to the seizure of a barge on March 17.
The community leader added 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 apprehend the oil thieves while they were in the act.
According to the community leader, the seized barge, named ‘Rampage 13’, was laden with more than 200,000 litres of crude suspected to be stolen.
A member of the surveillance group, who participated in the operation, said that the vessel was being towed 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 personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps on March 25.
Reacting to the commendation, Commander of the force, Rear Admiral Suleiman Apochi, said that oil production figures from the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation had indicated an upward swing in crude output in the past three years.
Sulaiman said that the country’s oil 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 force commander said that oil production rate had fallen to about 900,000 barrels per day three years ago just before the JTF was reorganised and repositioned for improved performance.
“As at the time we took over the leadership of this operation, the oil production of the country was at 900, 000 barrels per day.
“Today, due to our operational activities and commitment to providing an enabling environment for business to thrive, oil production has increased to 2.2 million barrels per day.
“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 the 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 form of criminality within the joint operation area, which will impact positively on the economy of this country.
“We shall always remain committed to this mandate; that is why we are encouraged to do more in providing security in the region,” he said.
