Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers States has urged the Nigerian Navy and to ensure that those who sabotage the government’s effort to eliminate bunkering are brought to justice.
The governor made the appeal when participants of the Naval Warfare College Course Four paid him a courtesy visit on Monday at Government House in Port Harcourt.
Wike said that bunkering, which affects the socio-economic development of the country negatively, should not be allowed to thrive.
The governor noted that his administration had given the necessary support to security agencies, particularly the Nigerian Navy, by providing six gunboats to secure the waterways.
He said: “We’re also procuring more gunboats for the Navy to fight pipeline vandalism and oil bunkering in the State.
“The issue of security shouldn’t be politicised as crime and criminality isn’t synonymous to a particular state.
“No Country or State can say that they don’t have insecurity. Here in the State because we’re working in synergy with security agencies, insecurity has reduced.
“Let me appeal that the efforts you put in to apprehend those who attack your personnel should also be applied to prosecute those who affect our economy.”