By Samuel Oyadongha

Yenagoa — Bayelsa State governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, yesterday, described as frightening, the ongoing environmental despoliation being perpetuated by crude oil thieves in the hinterland of the state.

According to him, crude oil theft was not only a threat to the country’s security but to the state’s revenue and its troubled ecosystem.

Dickson, who spoke on the state-owned radio, Glory FM,  monitored in Yenagoa, however, added that the security agencies had been directed to rid the state of all those involved in the illicit business.

He noted with sadness that aside the huge revenue lost to the crude oil thieves, the environment, the only heritage of the people, was also being destroyed with impunity.

Though he lauded the efforts of the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta, codenamed Operation Pulo Shield, in combating the crude oil theft menace, the governor said that the state government had concluded plans to establish the marine component of Operation Doo Akpo to complement the former in riding the state of oil thieves and pipeline vandals.

He said:  “Oil theft is not just a threat to our revenue, it is actually a threat to the security of our country. We, being a coastal state, are victims of what is what is going on.

“We have lost a lot of revenue. Our revenue has drastically dwindled. As a matter of fact, last month, we almost had a zero balance after meeting our current liabilities because the earnings of the state in the last five months have reduced so much.

“We are working with the security agencies who I believe are trying their best. It is clear that they need to sit up and do more, particularly, the JTF that is supposed to be guarding the oil installations. I have held series of meetings with the oil companies and made it clear to them that they need to sit up and do more.

“I had also made a case for them to have more presence here so that our people can easily connect with them and their facilities. But right now, they are still more as buccaneers. Our people don’t feel they have a stake in their facilities and so on. That is not right.”