Posted on: 04:51 Sun, 22 May 2016



President Muhammadu Buhari, on
Friday, urged militants in the Niger
Delta to drop their confrontational
stance and work with his
government to review the Amnesty
Programme initiated by the Late
ex-President Umaru Yar’Adua
Administration.

President Buhari assured oil
companies operating in the Niger
Delta that the Federal Government
is taking all necessary actions to
protect strategic assets in the
region from vandals and criminals.

Speaking at a meeting with the
Global Director (Upstream) of the
Royal Dutch Shell Group, Andrew
Brown, President Buhari said that
he had directed the Chief of Naval
Staff to reorganise and strengthen
the military Joint Task Force (JTF)
in the Niger Delta to deal
effectively with the resurgence of
militancy and the sabotage of oil
installations.

The President told Mr. Brown that
the operations of the JTF were also
being enhanced with increased
support and cooperation from the
United States and Europe in the
areas of training, intelligence,
equipment and logistics.

He said: “We have to be very
serious with the situation in the
Niger Delta because it threatens the
national economy.

I assure you that everything
possible will be done to protect
personnel and oil assets in the
region.”

The president urged aggrieved
persons, militants and communities
in the Niger Delta to drop their
confrontational stance and work
with those who have been charged
by the Federal Government to
review the Amnesty Programme
initiated by the Yar’Adua
Administration for the benefit of all
parties.

President Buhari praised the
resilience and staying power of
Shell in Nigeria despite the
operational challenges of the
environment .

He urged the company to do its best
to end gas flaring in the Niger Delta
quickly and produce more gas for
electricity generation to support
manufacturing and job creation in
the country.

Mr. Brown had appealed for an
urgent solution to rising crime and
militancy in the Niger Delta.
The Shell Executive also dispelled
speculations that the company was
pulling out of Nigeria.

He said that contrary to such
speculations, Shell was currently in
discussions with the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC) on new joint oil and gas
projects.

Source: Vanguard