The General Officers Commanding (GOCs), 6 and 82 Divisions, Nigerian Army (NA), Major General Jamal Abdussalam, and Major General Hassan Dada jointly paid an operational visit to the illegal oil bunkering empire located at Okoloma, Oyigbo Local Government Area (LGA), and Umuahale area in Ukwa West LGA in Rivers and Abia States, respectively.
The visit was in an effort to end the notorious illegal oil bunkering regime in the Niger Delta and South East regions.
The locations are at the fringes of the Imo River, where the two divisions are jointly conducting clearance operations from Rivers and Abia States.
It also allowed the GOCs to conduct an on-the-spot assessment of the illegality perpetrated by criminals and economic saboteurs, as well as boost troop morale for a job well done.
This was a follow-up to the earlier raid on one of the camps last week by troops of the 6th Division.
While at the fringes of the Imo River, deep into the thickly forested areas, the GOCs were taken on a tour by the Commander, 6 Division Garrison, Brigadier General Edet Effiong, and Commander, 14 Brigade, Brigadier General Olusola Diya, where they saw the hub of illegal oil bunkering, shrouded with cooking pots, boilers, surface reservoirs, and huge quantities of illegal products in dug-in reservoirs carefully concealed under the thick forest with interconnected pipes spanning several kilometres.
The crime scene points to the fact that it is an organised crime that has been running for a long period, owing to the huge investment made to sabotage the national economy.
A press statement by Acting Deputy Director, 6 Division Army Public Relations, Lt. Col. Danjuma Jonah Danjuma, said the GOCs jointly addressed the troops, charging them to ensure all illegal bunkering sites are destroyed.
It said that they also re-echoed the President and Commander-in-Chief’s directive on zero tolerance for illegal oil bunkering, charging troops to sustain the operational tempo against this mindless criminality.
According to the statement, the GOCs said that if this illegality is allowed to continue, it will affect the Nigerian economy gravely. Additionally, it is believed that the proceeds from these illegalities are used to fund other crimes.
They therefore called on all hands to be on deck to deny the enemies of the state freedom of action and ensure that these streams of funding are completely dismantled.
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