Commander of the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) in Bayelsa, Maj. Gen. Emmanuel Atewe, on Saturday appealed to the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah, to provide the command with more gunboats. Atewe who made the appeal when the wife of the COAS, Felly Minimah, visited Yenagoa, said it had become necessary to further equip Operation Pulo Shield in the fight against oil theft. Minimah, who is the President of Army Officers’ Wives Association, was in Yenagoa as part of her tour of military formations across the country.
The tour was for her to commiserate with widows of soldiers who died in the line of duty. The JTF commander, however, said the challenges in the waterways had reduced through the efforts of his administration of the command. He said Operation Pulo Shield was set up to combat oil theft and illegal bunkering and refining of crude oil in the creeks of Niger Delta. He said it was regrettable that the environment in the area was being damaged through the activities of illegal oil bunkerers and pipeline vandals.
Atewe lauded the NAOWA president for her visit and her association’s philanthropic gesture of visiting different barracks in the country. Responding, Minimah commended officers and men of JTF in Bayelsa for their dedication toward keeping peace and stability in the state. Minimah also applauded the Bayelsa Government for its assistance to the JTF command and the military in the fight against crime.
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