By Samuel Oyadongha
Yenagoa—Bayelsa State Government has reiterated its preparedness to support the military in stamping out pipeline vandalisation and crude oil theft in the state.
Governor Seriake Dickson, when the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Dele Ezeoba, called on him in Yenagoa, emphasised that no amount of assistance to the security agencies was too much in view of the colossal damage the vices had caused the nation’s economy.
Dickson, in a statement, said it was in realisation of this that his administration had been investing in security, which he noted, was yielding positive results.
He said: “Bayelsa State has transited from being a constant national flashpoint to being on the vanguard of stability and security in the past one year.”
He admitted the prevalence of illegal bunkering, crude oil theft and refining activities in the state and expressed the determination of the current administration in the state to fight the scourge.
He said the state government would do everything possible to ensure that the 15 fast-moving patrol gunboats it recently acquired and handed over to security agencies were put to use.
“The weakness and vulnerability that you have identified are from the creeks (waterways) because in the last one year, the measures we had taken were such that criminals find the upland areas and the state capital too hot for their comfort. Now, we have discovered the way they are operating,” he said.
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