Abubakar said the move was in line with the Defence HQ’s resolve to provide efficient and effective security in the Niger Delta.
This was revealed to newsmen on Wednesday, June 22, 2016, by the Acting Director, Defence Information, Brig. Gen. Rabe Abubakar.
Punch reports that Abubakar, in a statement, said the move was in line with the Defence HQ’s resolve to provide efficient and effective security in the Niger Delta.
The statement reads: “The Operation Pulo Shield in the Niger Delta has been scrapped with immediate effect and replaced with Operation Delta Safe.
“This is in line with the Defence Headquarters initiative to restructure the Joint Task Force for better service delivery, efficiency and effectiveness in line with the vision and mission of the Chief of Defence Staff to contain the current security challenges in the Niger Delta especially protection of critical national assets and provision of security in the area.
“Under this arrangement, the Joint Operational Areas of the new outfit have been delineated into three sectors and five Operational Bases covering the entire Niger Delta, Ondo and Akwa Ibom States. The Headquarters of Operation Delta Safe would be in Yenagoa.
“This development, according to Chief of Defence Staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin becomes expedient in order to inject new tactics and robust operational initiative to tackle the emerging security challenges in the Niger Delta region such as piracy, bunkering, vandalism and other criminalities prevalent in the area.”
Meanwhile, the Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force (JNDLF) has revealed that some military officers are planning a coup to overthrow President Buhari.