The New Experience Newspapers Online News Indepth, Analysis and More
New Commander of the Joint Task Force (JTF) codenamed Operation Delta Safe Rear Admiral Akinjide Akinriade, yesterday said the task force in the Niger Delta will have no mercy for oil thieves and other criminals in the region.
Speaking during the handover ceremony at the OPDS headquarters in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Akinrinade, who took over from Real Admiral Apochi Suleiman, said tough times await criminal elements in the oil-rich region.
While commending the outgoing commander for his leadership style, he assured that he would be proactive in curbing all forms of criminalities, as well as checkmate all networks of oil stealing and other vices in the zone.
He said one of his strategies would be to strengthen the synergy and cohesion among the various units, components and formations of the task force.
Speaking, Suleiman pointed out that the operation under his command has destroyed and dislodged major militant camps in the Niger Delta, thereby boosting security in the region.
He said the relative peace in the command has increased the country’s crude oil production, which he said, has risen remarkably from 900 barrels per day in 2016 to over two million barrels per day.