
By Moses Patience Chat
Operation Delta Safe (OPDS), a joint military taskforce operating in the Niger Delta region has reaffirmed its commitment to eliminating crude oil theft, illegal refining, and illegal oil bunkering activities in the country, which is in line with the directive of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The Commander of OPDS, Rear Admiral Olusegun Ferreira, made this affirmation on Wednesday, while speaking to journalists in Port Harcourt during his first visit and familiarization tour to units under his command.
Ferreira said the visit was important in order to ensure that the operational tempo of the joint taskforce is in line with its mandate from the Defence Headquarters, which is to protect oil and gas infrastructure within the Niger Delta region. According to him, OPDS has attained a very high level of operational successes, and that the environment to a great extent has largely been sanitized.
His words: “If you recall, back in the days you will find black soot in Port Harcourt and environs but that has gone down. Naturally, these criminal elements will try to sustain their criminal acts all geared towards illicit sources of funds, but they have forgotten that the environment is our common heritage, which we all must get to protect.
“Nonetheless, OPDS will continue to pursue and implement all necessary operations that will continue to eliminate these acts of these criminals.
“We will leave no stone unturned, as we will continue to detect their actions as much as possible. We are going to ride on the directive of the President to eliminate illegal refineries and crude oil theft in general.”
The OPDS Commander further warned perpetrators of oil theft to desist from such acts, insisting that the Operation will not rest on its aim of eliminating all forms of criminality and oil theft in the country.