The Nigerian Army said on Sunday that it had taken over the security of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipelines in the Lagos area, along with the Nigerian Navy, and craved the maximum cooperation of host communities.
Col. Mustapha Anka, the Director, Army Public Relations, 81 Division of the Nigerian Army in Lagos, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria.
Anka said the joint operation, code-named: “Operation Awase,” was set up to tackle the vandalism of the NNPC pipelines in Majidun, Ikorodu and other parts of the state.
He said the officers and men sighted by the communities around the pipelines were on legitimate duties.
“There is no illegality in the operation of our men in any part of Lagos. We have since discovered that some people in some of the communities around the pipelines are part of the vandals,” Anka said.
“Any member of the communities where we are operating, without any criminal intention, is free to engage in lawful activities. But vandals will now have no peace in Lagos State,” the spokesman warned.
“We also solicit the cooperation of the host communities to give us information about the vandals,” he said.
“We have been operating in the last eight months. The main task of the joint operation is to flush out vandals of pipelines in the Lagos area and its environs,” Anka said.
The Army spokesman, however, did not mention Arepo area in Ogun State, as part of their coverage areas.
Men of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) were securing some of the pipelines in Lagos and Ogun States before their contract with the NNPC reportedly expired about a week ago.
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