Defence HQ: Military Will Continue to Fight Oil Thieves Until Nigeria Meets OPEC Quota

Ikechukwu Aleke in Abuja

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ), Thursday, assured President Bola Tinubu and Nigerians that troops of the armed forces of Nigeria will continue to clamp down on economic saboteurs and crude oil thieves, and deny them freedom of action until the country meets and surpasses the quota set by Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

The DHQ however, averred that there was noticeable improvement in the nation’s crude oil production within the period under review – July and August.
Director, Defence Media Operation, Maj. Gen. Edward Buba, said this while fielding questions from journalists during the biweekly press briefing on operational activities of the military and other security agencies.
He said: “The CDS received a marching order from the president to ensure that the nation’s crude oil production improves so that we are able to meet our OPEC quota.

“We have noticed an improvement in the nation’s crude oil production within this period. This is indicative of the fact that we are on the right track.
“We are not going to rest in our oars; we are going to sustain the momentum until the nation’s crude oil production meets and surpasses OPEC quota.
“It will be recalled that we have been rejigging our operations. We increased the surveillance over pipeline infrastructures; we increased our cooperation with stakeholders in the oil sector”.

He further disclosed that troops of joint taskforce force, operation Delta Safe are also monitoring the meters in the head tanks to know the amount of crude that the country is producing daily.
These measures, he said led to the increase in the volume of crude oil production as already attested to by media reports on the subject matter.
He however, denied the insinuations that the military arrested a protester in Abuja, asking the media to approach the appropriate security agencies for further clarification as no protester is in custody of the military.

On the protest, he said that citizens see protest with different lens, adding that to some, it means rioting; to others it is to go on rampage and loot private property and vandalise public infrastructures, while to a few others it means protesting to draw attention of authorities to certain prevailing circumstances.
His words: “We identified these variables, before advising the organisers to shelve the planned nationwide protest in the interest of peace and tranquility but they paid deaf ears.

“In my brief before the protest, I identified a number of factors fueling the protest to include sovereign interference, terror groups, and other interest groups.”
Responding to questions on the just concluded nationwide protest, the military spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Tukur Gusau, said the current administration is barely more than one year in office, so citizens should dialogue, instead of protest.
He recalled that the military warned the organizers of the protests not to proceed with it based on their credible intelligence of plot to hijack it by local and foreign subversive elements, hoodlums and rioters.

 All these, he said happened because the organizers failed to heed the advice to avert the looming danger. He regretted that private businesses and properties were looted and destroyed by unruly hoodlums, while public infrastructures were vandalized.

“The citizens must support the fight against violent crimes if the fight against it must succeed. The fight is not only for the military and security agencies alone, the citizens also have crucial role to play as the bad eggs and criminal elements live amongst the people.
“So, the civilian population must support the military with credible intelligence to uproot terrorism and other violent crimes in Nigeria,” he concluded.