Commanders of three security organisations operating in the Niger Delta region have commended the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) for supporting their activities.
The security chiefs were at the commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt on Tuesday for a courtesy call on the NDDC Managing Director, Sir Bassey Dan-Abia.
The visiting military chiefs were the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Naval Command, Rear Admiral Atiku Abdulkadir, Commander of the 97 Special Operations Group of the Nigerian Air Force, Air commodore Charles Ohwo and Rivers State Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Mrs Helen Amakiri.
Rear Admiral Abdulkadir, who visited first in company of Commander of the NNS Pathfinder, Navy Commodore S. A. Ibrahim, said that it was customary to visit military and civil organisations to assess the situation on ground with a view to proffering solutions to challenges that may confront the security agencies.
Mr I. A. Abosede, Head, Corporate Affairs, noted in a statement on Thursday that NDDC is a very important agency of development that must be given the necessary peaceful environment to discharge its mandate.
“We acknowledge the assistance NDDC has given to the Navy in the recent past, especially the jetty at the NNS Pathfinder, and we look forward to the speedy completion of the jetties at Ibaka and Onne in Rivers State. The eastern flank of our operations is very important to the Navy because of the oil and gas infrastructure located in the area,” Abdulkadir said.
In a separate courtesy call by the Air Force, Air Commodore Charles Ohwo, accompanied by other senior officers, commended NDDC for extending some logistics support to its officers and men serving in the region.
“We are stakeholders in the development of the Niger Delta. We have a very good relationship with NDDC and we want the collaboration to be strengthened,” he said.
Responding, NDDC Managing Director, Sir Dan-Abia, remarked that the importance of security in the Niger Delta could not be over-emphasised, adding that the comprehensive security shield should entail land, water and air cover.
“We attach a lot of importance to security matters because we cannot have meaningful development where there is no peace and security. We need security both for the execution of our projects as well as for their protection when they are completed,” he said.
The NDDC boss said that the commission would continue to assist the security agencies in providing logistics support necessary for making the region safe, since peace was a critical ingredient to the performance of the commission.
“These are challenging times for us in terms of funding. But funding problems cannot diminish the need to support the security agencies,” he emphasized.
Sir Dan-Abia commended the military for making sacrifices for the peace and security of the country and stressed the need for the security agencies and NDDC to periodically hold meetings to review the challenges of restiveness and criminality in the Niger Delta.
The Rivers State Commandant of the NSCDC, Mrs Helen Amakiri, who also paid a courtesy call on the NDDC Chief Executive Officer along with other officers, appealed to the commission to support its efforts to stop oil theft and pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta.
She said: “We monitor all oil pipelines in the region. We also regulate and supervise the activities of private security organizations. We need the NDDC to support us just as it has been supporting other security organizations.”
