By Emem Idio

DESPITE the attendant adverse environmental impacts associated with the burning of illegal crude oil by the military in the Niger Delta, Commander of Sector 2 of Operation Delta Safe, OPDS, in charge of Bayelsa State, Col. A. B. Mohammed, says the action will continue as the military lacks the logistics of considering alternative measures of disposing of them.

Mohammed, who stated that though the military hierarchy was concerned about the environmental situation in the Niger Delta, however, said that the military was overwhelmed by the frequent sabotage of oil installations and the daily proliferations of illegal refineries, hence the decision to burn them off.

The OPDS commander was reacting to issues of environmental degradation occasioned by the burning of crude oil in the Niger Delta, as raised by the leadership of the Bayelsa State branch of the Civil Liberties Organization, CLO, during a courtesy visit to the OPDS Sector Command in Yenagoa, yesterday.

He said: “We do not have the resources to bring the illegal crude to Yenagoa to release them to Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, or the police, and again we are afraid of compromise which kills the morale of the military and it is one of the reasons we burn out the illegal crude.”