The Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Lucky Irabor, has promised to galvanize the military to provide maximum security for the nation’s oil and gas assets.
The CDS gave the commitment Wednesday at a meeting with the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mallam Mele Kyari, and his top management team at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja.
Speaking while receiving the GMD, General Irabor commended Mallam Kyari for initiating the engagement, saying: “I am delighted that you made this effort, and I tell you that the Armed Forces of Nigeria will collaborate with you to protect NNPC’s assets”.
General Irabor, who acknowledged the significant role of the oil and gas sector to the economy, said there was need for collaboration between the NNPC and the Armed Forces to protect oil and gas facilities which he described as the critical national assets.
“It is my intention to cooperate maximally with you and to give necessary instructions to all officers in the Armed Forces given that our existence, economically, rests almost solely on the NNPC, and to that extent, we must do everything possible to give you everything that you require,” the CDS stated.
Speaking earlier, the NNPC GMD commended the security agencies for their support and called for more protection for NNPC’s operational assets and personnel.
He disclosed that though petroleum products theft on the System 2B Pipeline has reduced considerably due to support from the security agencies, the nation was still losing about 200,000 barrels of crude oil daily to theft and vandalism.
“We have two sets of losses, one coming from our products and the other coming from crude oil. In terms of crude losses, it is still going on. On the average, we are losing 200,000 barrels of crude every day,” Mallam Kyari stated.