President Muhammadu Buhari, on Friday, urged militants in the Niger
Delta to drop their confrontational stance and work with his government
to review the Amnesty Programme initiated by the Late ex-President Umaru
Yar’Adua Administration.
President Buhari assured oil companies operating in the Niger Delta
that the Federal Government is taking all necessary actions to protect
strategic assets in the region from vandals and criminals.
Speaking at a meeting with the Global Director (Upstream) of the
Royal Dutch Shell Group, Andrew Brown, President Buhari said that he had
directed the Chief of Naval Staff to reorganise and strengthen the
military Joint Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta to deal effectively
with the resurgence of militancy and the sabotage of oil installations.
The President told Mr. Brown that the operations of the JTF were also
being enhanced with increased support and cooperation from the United
States and Europe in the areas of training, intelligence, equipment and
logistics.
He said: “We have to be very serious with the situation in the Niger Delta because it threatens the national economy.
I assure you that everything possible will be done to protect personnel and oil assets in the region.”
The president urged aggrieved persons, militants and communities in
the Niger Delta to drop their confrontational stance and work with those
who have been charged by the Federal Government to review the Amnesty
Programme initiated by the Yar’Adua Administration for the benefit of
all parties.
President Buhari praised the resilience and staying power of Shell in
Nigeria despite the operational challenges of the environment .
He urged the company to do its best to end gas flaring in the Niger
Delta quickly and produce more gas for electricity generation to support
manufacturing and job creation in the country.
Mr. Brown had appealed for an urgent solution to rising crime and militancy in the Niger Delta.
The Shell Executive also dispelled speculations that the company was pulling out of Nigeria.
He said that contrary to such speculations, Shell was currently in
discussions with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on
new joint oil and gas projects.
Source: Vanguard
