… commend journalists for effective partnership
The Nigerian Army have vowed to bring down its might on oil thieves who are sabotaging the nation’s economy.
The Commander 63 Brigade headquarters in Asaba, the Delta State capital, Brigadier General Vitus Unachukwu, made the declaration at a courtesy visit by the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Delta State Council recently.
He noted that the army would collaborate with the media to stamp out the scourge in the Niger Delta region.
According to the army chief, they are not oblivious of the dangers crude oil theft portends for the country, noting that he has zero tolerance for corruption.
On those living around the neighbourhood with no proof of residency, he disclosed: “we arrested over 900 people which we profiled, we took their pictures for them to know that people are watching them.
“You don’t have right to restrict a Nigerian from moving from one part of the country to the other. You do not have right to repatriate somebody because they don’t have work.
“That notwithstanding, we took copious notice of the number of people coming into Asaba and we are walking with all other partner security agencies to keep an eye on them. The army is doing so much to keep our citizens safe.
“But we need your cooperation to give us information. What we can assure you is that we are ready to work and take action 24 hours a day.
“Our eyes and attention have noticed and we are ready to arrest and handover such people to the relevant prosecuting agencies that has the prosecutorial power to prosecute them and we will welcome your partnership in that regard.
He solicited for more cordial working relationship, saying “Our doors are 24hrs opened. You are our friends and partners, as soldiers we try to be very sincere, we don’t know how to lie, we will always communicate frankly”.
On their mandate, he noted that they are here to protect the State and federal government assets especially oil facilities, stressing that the press should be at the forefront to help them achieve the mandates.
“We are here, determined to ensure that not one drop of crude oil revenue will go to any oil bunker. So, we clave your indulgence to help us with any information you have to aid us stop this economic saboteurs”.
Earlier, the State NUJ Council chairman, Comrade Churchill Oyowe, expressed worries over the number of people without residency permit particularly in the State capital.
While noting that the courtesy was to introduce the newly elected officers to the 63 Brigade, he commended them for the tireless work they are doing, calling on them to scale up their abilities for a more safer State.
“Thank you for the speed with which you approved the visit. We are the fourth estate of the realm. We hold government accountable in order for them to be accountable to the people.
“We have come to introduce ourselves to you. The army which is the military is a major stakeholder that is why we are here. We are not oblivious of the critical role the military is playing in the society.
“We know of the current insurgency in the country and the prize some of your men have paid. And we know that you are having an upper hand that is why we are still existing as a country.
“As a member of the Delta State security council, we have come to see you, though the security agencies are doing their best, we still see some people trying to subvert security.
“There are a lot of people without residency permit, what we see is crowd residency and it is dangerous to our society. They should be identified and when they are not Nigerians, they should be sent away.
“We want to call for a closer relationship between the army and journalists particularly the 63 Brigade. We need to get confirmation about things that are happening, when we call for confirmation, there should be an officer that should respond to issues.
He called on the army as a professional body to engage professional bodies for information dissemination.
