Tejiri Ebikeme/Francis Sadhere
Commander of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Delta, Warri Naval Base, Warri, Delta State, Captain Musa Gemu has called on the Federal Government to provide more ships and gunboats to patrol the waters of the Niger Delta region, saying that if oil theft must be fought to a standstill, the Nigeria Navy has to be well equipped.
The Commander made this call during the weekend when the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Warri Correspondent Chapel, paid him a courtesy call.
Captain Gemu revealed that policing the Nigerian Water was an expensive venture and the Navy needs speed and ammunition to fight oil theft, adding that the creeks were very difficult areas to reach with their limited firepower.
“We do not have adequate number of ships and gunboats to be able to police the waters. The number is grossly inadequate. So I want to use this medium to appeal to the Federal Government to provide the Chief of Naval Staff with the necessary equipment so as to enable us work. And with this, we will be able to achieve that zero tolerance.”
He also lamented the lack of cooperation by the local communities who he said do not provide them with the necessary information to carry out their duties, noting that must locals were afraid to give them information because of security reasons.
Captain Gemu said that had been carrying the Nigerian Army, the press and other security agencies along during his operations , adding that he had to involve everybody because he wants to be transparent in carrying out the order of the CNS.
He said so far, officers of the Nigerian Navy have arrested eleven suspected ships and handed them over to the police for further investigation.
Speaking further on his successes so far, Gemu said that his men had destroyed over 33 wooden boats involved in illegal oil bunkering activities.
Explaining why they had to burn all wooden boats used in oil theft activities, the Warri Naval Commander said it was much more less expensive to burn the boats than to impound them, noting that a lot of things could happen when transferring such suspected boats from one location to another.
Captain Gemu said that to get to the heart of where illegal refineries were taken place, sometimes it took the Navy up to a month to get to one illegal refinery because of the difficult terrain of the creeks.
While saying that helicopters where good in the fight against oil theft, he noted that helicopters can only see the locations where the illegal oil refineries were operating but it could not get there to carry out any operations.
He reiterated that the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Usman Jibrin, on assumption of office had said there shall be zero tolerance on illegal bunkering and any other illegality that might take place in the waters.
He said he had been mandated to carry out the order of the CNS when he was posted to the Command and that so far, had achieved a lot in the fight against oil theft within his command.
The Commander said; “So far, within this short period that I have taken over command, we have achieved a lot and when the Chief of Naval Staff came to NNS Delta during his familiarization tour, he said NNS Delta has ranked first among other Nigerian Naval bases, towards its operations. We received a letter of commendation from him, and we thank God for that. So far, you have heard from the Chief of Naval Staff that over thirty eight ships have been arrested.”
Captain Gemu thanked the NUJ for its support to the navy, promising that it will make its self available to clear any issue that is capable of bringing disrepute to the command.
Earlier, the Chairman of the NUJ, Warri Correspondent Chapel, Comrade Mike Ikeogwu said the union decided to pay the new Commander a courtesy call because the union wants to work with him and make sure he succeeds.
He assured Gemu that the union will continue to cooperate with NNS Delta in its quest to rid the creek off oil thieves, stressing that the union was committed to ensuring that its members report the activities of the navy accurately.
