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FOC canvasses media support to rout kidnappers
- Navy to focus on riverine areas
By OKOSUN DENNIS
The Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral Sylvanus Abbah has called on media support to fight emerging insecurity problems especially the buffoonery of kidnappers.
The new Flag Officer Commanding, WNC, Rear Admiral Sylvanus Abbah said this after taking over the mantle of leadership of the command from his predecessor, Rear Admiral Ferguson Dukas Bobai.
He said the new dimension to insecurity is posed by kidnappers especially the kidnapping of school children hence we must focus on the riverine area to rout them.
He said the job of NN is a constitutional responsibility given to us and we have no option than to carry out our mandate accordingly.
He solicited the support of the press to assist security agencies with relevant information about scrupulous individuals in the society who pose as kidnappers saying the service would do the needful to uproot such dangerous individuals from their secret places where they are operating.
“Kidnappers are not spirits. They leave among us. If you see an unemployed person building mansion, tell security agencies so that he can be investigated.
“Can we say we do not know criminals? The media should help us so that we can carryout out these mandate.
“Those who do illegal bunkering and oil theft market their products in Lagos. If we block that route, the business will die. But if we don’t, it will continue to thrive.”
Earlier, while given his farewell remarks, the outgone, FOC, Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral Ferguson Dukas Bobai called on naval personnel to discharge their constitutional responsibility and respect human right especially those in their custody.
Admiral Bobai who has been redeployed to the Naval Headquarters in Abuja as the Chief of Training and Operations, was honoured with a farewell parade held at the NNS Beecroft parade ground.
While handing over to the new FOC, Read Admiral Bobai reiterated that “We have worked as a team and made modest achievements. However, there is still room for improvement.
“The level of threat in NWC is less than Central Naval Command. This is while the navy has repositioned its ships to reflect the new order.
“We are making progress in fleet renewal that would help you have more ships at sea. Every personnel must redouble efforts to fill the gaps at all times to meet existing challenges.
“Everybody must do his work according to duty specifications to avoid creating unnecessary vacuum,” he emphasised.
Bobai, while reviewing his tour of duty in WNC, said the mandate of Operation AWATSE when he took over in April 2016 was to flush out militants
“We started cleaning up from Ijedodo towards Mosimi, along the 72km pipeline. That was really our mandate from the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).
“Fortunately, at that time, the NNPC pipeline was undergoing maintenance and not receiving products. We were able to douse the tension of pipeline vandals.
“Because there was no business for the vandals, most of them started to look for other things to do and we began to see the ugly faces of kidnapping in the general area.
While commending his predecessor, Rear Admiral Sylvanus Abbah expressed appreciation to the out gone FOC for his outstanding achievements and camaraderie.
He warned personnel not to break the role and try as much as possible to live according to order and their professional calling to avoid unpleasant issues adding that a lot can only be achieved if they work together as a team.
He added that those engaging in illegal bunkery in Niger Delta have Lagos as a veritable market hence they must work harder to block them “We must block them from operating in Lagos so that their business will not thrive.