Nigeria’s recently appointed Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Maj.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja has assured Nigerians that the Nigerian Army under his watch will flush out oil theft and pipeline vandalism in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region.
Lagbaja made this vow while speaking during an interactive session with media executives on Wednesday in Ibadan as part of activities marking this year’s Nigerian Army Day Celebration (NADCEL).
He also said that he would not lose focus on banditry in the North-West.
Lagbaja said, ‘The Army will focus on the situation in the Niger-Delta region, just as it will not also lose focus on what’s happening in other parts of the country in line with the mandate of the current government.
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‘The President [Bola Tinubu] has said that the nation is bleeding from all these. The money isn’t just there to do what we used to do in the past.
‘This has led to the removal of oil subsidies and the floated exchange rate, while other reforms have also been put in place.
‘Riding on the ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda of the President, the Nigerian Army under my watch will stamp out oil theft and pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta.’
Recall that prominent Niger Delta leader, Asari Dokubo, had a few weeks ago accused the Nigerian military of being behind 99 percent of oil theft in the country.
Dokubo made the accusation after a private meeting with President Bola Tinubu in his office on Friday.
He stated that the President has promised to investigate allegations of huge oil bunkering by notorious naval commanders that are kingpins, and promised to take decisive action to halt the shameful act.
Dokubo added that there are powerful cabals operating from Abuja, vowing that these powerful forces in place have now met their match and many people would soon be marching to Kuje.