A foremost pro-democracy and development group, the Niger-Delta Development Initiative (NDDI), has given a passmark to the effort of the Nigerian Navy in its effort to get rid of oil bunkers and illegal oil merchants in the South-South region.
The group specifically acknowledged the bravery of the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla and his team in waging war against the age-long oil theft in the oil-rich region.
According to a statement signed by President of NDDI, Reverend Sam Smith Tonye and made available to Tribune Online, the proliferation of pirates and illegal oil merchants in Niger Delta had caused Nigeria’s government a great fortune but the appointment of Vice Admiral Ogalla by President Bola Tinubu has put a stop to that so far.
“The various efforts and machineries put in place by Ogalla in combating crimes and criminality around the seas and nation’s waterways can not be ignored.
“The measures put in place to check the activities of those pirates and bunkers is seriously paying off. The top merchants and their Abuja collaborators now know it’s no longer business as usual,” Tonye said.
The group also praised the Chief of Naval Staff for helping to reduce to barest minimal level, incidents of oil theft in the Niger Delta as well as protecting the nation’s coastal waters from external enemies who come in to steal the nation’s wealth regularly.
This, the group alluded, was far from what was the state of the oil-rich region before the inauguration of Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu as the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
According to NDDI, the reign of Ogalla barely six months as CNS, has brought about improved changes in Niger Delta region.
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