The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, has reiterated the Army’s commitment to ensuring safe and secure environment for oil companies to operate in the country.
Buratai gave the assurance when the Managing Director of Total Nigeria Plc, Mike Sangster, led the management team to visit him in Abuja on Monday.
According to him, the Army would continue to collaborate with and support the oil companies to ensure smooth operations in the country, especially in the Niger Delta.
He said: “We know that your work is key to our economy and development, and we will do everything possible to ensure that lives and property of all the oil companies in the Niger Delta are protected. We are working on our updated strategy to ensure that we provide the needed security.
“We will continue to support each other to provide an enabling environment for you to operate, not only in Port Harcourt, but any part of the country. The partnership which we have established, we will ensure that we make it work stronger.”
The army chief also praised Total for its support through its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects in terms of interventions in the barracks in Port Harcourt. He noted that the Army had maintained a long standing relationship with the company, saying such interventions had greatly imparted the troops’ morale in uplifting the standard of living with adequate accommodation.
Sangster said the purpose was to introduce himself and appreciate the support and cooperation of the Army to Total’s business operations in Nigeria. Sangster hailed Gen. Buratai for the feat the Army had achieved in its fight against insurgency and other forms of insecurity in the country.
He added that he also came to extend the company’s goodwill to the soldiers who daily risk their lives for the security of Nigerians and the country’s territorial integrity.
“Our hearts are with the families of the soldiers who have paid the supreme price in the line of duty,” he added.
The Total boss pledged that the company would sustain the cordial relationship it had maintained with the army, noting that in spite of the security challenges in the country, Total’s downstream sector had 576 service stations across Nigeria.