GOVERNOR Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, yesterday, decried the continued attack on oil and gas installations by militants, regretting that the revenue accruing to the state had dropped to below 20 percent of what it used to be two years ago.
Okowa, when he played host to the Commandant, 4 Battalion of the Nigerian Army, Brig-General Banbella Raji, in Asaba, said that apart from pipeline vandalism, the state was also facing the challenges of herdsmen clashing with farmers and some Fulani men posing as herdsmen to kidnap people.
He said: “Pipeline vandalism is affecting us so much that what we currently receive is below 20 per cent of what the state received two years ago. As a state, we will continue to support the operations of the Army and other security agencies to enable them carry out their functions in the state.”
Noting that sharing of information between security agencies operating in the state was yielding results in checking security challenges, Okowa noted that the synergy between the agencies had ensured successes in crime prevention in the state.
Commending the Army for collaborating with the Police in checking some criminal activities which ordinarily were within the purview of the Police, Okowa said, “We hope that the peace we enjoy now will be sustained, it is our hope that the security operatives remain proactive.”
Speaking earlier, Brig.-General Raji thanked Governor Okowa for supporting security agencies, noting that this has led to improvement in the socio-economic life of Deltans. Raji said they were in the state to check the activities of militants and pipeline vandals and also check activities of kidnappers and proffer solutions to other security challenges in the state.