Military Scraps Operation Pulo Shield in Niger Delta

• Replaced with Operation Delta Safe

Senator Iroegbu in Abuja

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has scrapped its defence programme in Niger Delta codenamed ‘Operation Pulo Shield’ with immediate effect and replaced it with Operation Delta Safe.

The Director of Defence Information (DDI), Brig-Gen. Rabe Abubakar, said that the decision is in line with the DHQ’s initiative to restructure the Joint Task Force for better service delivery, efficiency and effectiveness.

Abubakar also said that the change is in line with the vision and mission of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin, to contain the current security challenges in the Niger Delta, especially protection of critical national assets and provision of security in the area.

Under this arrangement, he said, the Joint Operational Areas of the new outfit have been delineated into three sectors and five Operational Bases covering the entire Niger Delta, Ondo and Akwa Ibom States.

He also disclosed that the Headquarters of Operation Delta Safe would be in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital.

The DDI added that this development, according to CDS Olonisakin, becomes expedient in order to inject new tactics and robust operational initiative to tackle the emerging security challenges in the Niger Delta region such as piracy, bunkering, vandalism and other criminalities prevalent in the area.