The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Nigeria Police Force on Tuesday pledged to work together in a renewed drive to combat the perennial menace of oil theft and pipeline vandalism across the country.
The Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Ndu Ughamadu, said in a statement issued in Abuja that the decision to reinvigorate the push against oil pipeline marauders was reached at the meeting between the Group Managing Director of the corporation, Maikanti Baru, and the Acting Inspector General of Police, Abubakar Adamu, at the corporation’s headquarters.
Ughamadu said the renewed cooperation would consolidate the prevailing cordial relationship between both entities in tackling the menace, which had manifested in losses of millions of litres of petroleum products.
Receiving the police boss at the NNPC, Baru assured him that the corporation would work assiduously with the new IGP in pursuit of the mutual mandate of ensuring the protection of the nation’s vast oil and gas assets.
Baru commended Adamu for the quick response to the recent case of suspected collusion between some policemen and oil pipeline vandals in the Arepo axis.
In his response, Adamu said it was natural for the police to have a keen interest in the security and protection of NNPC’s vital oil pipelines and sundry facilities across the country.