The Commander Operation PULO SHIELD, Major General Alani Gafar Okunlola, has called on the sectors and unit commanders of the task force to steer up operations against illegal oil bunkering and oil theft for total eradication of oil related illegalities and other sundry crimes in the Niger Delta warning that field Commanders would be held responsible for any act of compromise by the officers and men under their command.
General Okunlola gave this warning during his familiarization tour to the sectors and units under Operation Pulo Shield immediately after his assumption of office.
The tour commenced with a visit to Sector 1 of the Operation comprising of Ondo, Edo and Delta States.
At the headquarters of the Sector, its Commander, Brigadier General Farouk Yahaya, highlighted some achievements recorded in the past six months as well as some challenges facing the command which he said need urgent attention for effective policing of the waterways.
In his response, General Yahaya assured the Sector of maximum support and provision of logistics to fight against illegal oil bunkering and oil theft in the region. He emphasized the need to key into the Zero Tolerance Campaign against oil theft and other sundry crimes in the Niger Delta.
The task force Commander also visited 81 AMG and had a stop-over at 3 battalion, Warri where he addressed the press on the destruction of militant camps at Benigboye in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State and the arrest of a suspect. The suspect was paraded along with some sophisticated weapons recovered from militants.
Some of the weapons include medium machine gun (MMG), AK 47 light machine gun (LMG) and G3 assault rifles among others.
Furthermore, the Commander visited Sector 2 which comprises of Sub Sectors 1, 2 and 3 of the Operation, NAF 97 Special Operation Group, NNS Pathfinder and NNS Jubilee.
Other formations visited by the Commander include Sector 3 Calabar, 6 Battalion Abak, NNS Victory, Sector 4 Ohafia in Abia State and Sector 5 Obinze, Owerri in Imo State.
In another development, troops of Sector 2 Operation Pulo Shield deployed at LCC3 Onne while on routine patrol sighted an SUV jeep parked in a nearby bush with its occupants fleeing on sighting the troops.
The troops combed the area and discovered one pump action gun, one AK 47 rifle and a pistol with 64 cartridges and 10 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition.
Six illegal oil bunkering suspects were also arrested with unspecified quantity of illegally refined automated gas oil (AGO) at Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State. The suspects have been taken into custody.
In a similar development, the Maritime component of Operation Pulo Shield deployed at Snake Creek along Bugama axis and Ke Community in Rivers State discovered 9 active illegal oil bunkering sites where oil thieves operated with 10 storage tanks, a large metal barge and Cotonou boats filled with suspected stolen crude.
Other items recovered at the site include 2 welding machines and 10 pumping machines.
The recovered items were destroyed on the ground and four suspects arrested on the sites are in custody of the base for preliminary investigation before handing them over to the prosecuting agency. http://www.maxgist.com/2015/09/commander-operation-pulo-shield-call.html
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