Amnesty partners military against oil theft

The Presidential Amnesty Programme has assured the Defence Headquarters Joint Monitoring Team that it will support the latter’s mandate to curb crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta.

The PAP Administrator, Dr Dennis Otuaro stated this when the joint monitoring team led by Major General Jamil Jimoh paid him a courtesy visit at the PAP Office in Abuja, on Thursday.

Otuaro identified support for the joint monitoring team as crucial to tackling illegal oil bunkering and attacks on critical oil assets.

Otuaro, in a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Mr Igoniko Oduma, expressed delight that the country’s oil production output had reached 1.8 million barrels per day due to the intensified fight against crude thieves and pipeline vandals, saying he was confident the increase would be sustained.

He said, “I know that the essence of the PAP is national and human security in the country and the region. We are going to work with you at any time. It’s part of the things we can do within the mandate given to me by His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“Based on that, we will collaborate with you to ensure the eradication of oil bunkering and other related activities in the Niger Delta.

“The country’s oil production output is on the rise and has reached 1.8 million barrels per day, as announced sometime last week by the NNPCL. We are confident that it will increase more than that.”

Otuaro further said the PAP was vigorously implementing the reintegration phase of the programme through initiatives in formal education, vocational training, and post-training empowerment of delegates, beneficiaries and women while also deepening stakeholders’ engagement for sustainable peace and stability in the region.

Otuaro told the joint monitoring team that, with more funding, the programme’s expanding scope would be better managed and administered in the strategic interest of national security and stability.

Earlier, the leader of the team, Major General Jamil Jimoh, solicited the support of the PAP to enable them to do their work very well and explained that the visit was part of the team’s tour of the Niger Delta to interface with stakeholders.

He applauded the PAP administrator for working hard to ensure sustainable peace and stability in the Niger Delta, stressing that Otuaro’s knowledge of the region was an asset to maintaining peace and stability in the area.

Jamil said, “We have been in the Niger Delta, and we have met with some stakeholders. But we felt that it is very important that we also visit the Administrator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme that was established by the Federal Government and had brought peace to the Niger Delta.

“The Administrator knows a lot about that general area. He knows the people, and what is happening there and he will guide us on some of the things we want to do.

“We know that he has been doing a lot to make sure things are happening underground in the Niger Delta to maintain peace and stability. So we decided to meet him and his team today.”