The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on Tuesday expressed its preparedness to re-enter and begin full operations at the Chad Basin, Gongola and Benue Trough, as it seeks a holistic military support for the protection of its workforce and high-tech equipment.

NNPC’s Group Managing Director, Mele Kyari, disclosed this when he led top management of the corporation on a visit to the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Gabriel Olonisakin, in Abuja.

The Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Ndu Ughamadu, in a statement issued in Abuja, stated that due to the security challenges in the Chad Basin, Gongola and Benue Trough, the NNPC had not been able to mobilise fully to those areas of its important operations.

Kyari was quoted in the statement as saying, “I am visiting the Chief of Defence Staff as my first port of call following my appointment to seek for the support of the Armed Forces to help the NNPC in re-entering the Chad Basin, Gongola and Benue Trough to enable us carry out our mandate for national development. Your support in terms of providing full security for staff and equipment is critical to us.”

He added that the corporation equally required the military to intensify efforts in the protection of NNPC’s pipelines and Right of Way across the nooks and crannies of the country.

Kyari stated that the NNPC was seriously challenged due to the nefarious activities of pipeline vandals, petroleum products thieves and other economic saboteurs that breach the operations of the corporation in various parts of the country.

He recounted the significance of NNPC’s contributions to the national economy, adding that the corporation’s synergy with the military was critical to the wellbeing of the nation’s economy.

Responding, Olonisakin described NNPC as a strategic corporation that would be given full military support to enable it deliver on its mandate to the Nigerians.

He said, “It is imperative for the Armed Forces and the NNPC to collaborate and synergise for the benefit of the country going by their various strategic roles to the nation.

“The Armed Forces operations, code named, Operation Wase and Operations Delta Safe, along with other operations, were geared towards protecting pipelines and various oil and gas facilities.”

He said the military and the NNPC had been working together and the visit of the GMD would further bolster the various operations to secure the oil and gas installations, adding that the military had devised several strategies to stem the tide of pipeline breaches across the country.