The Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari, has called on the military to sustain the war against crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism, saying the current onslaught against the menace has yielded improved growth in the nation’s crude oil production.

According to the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the company, Olufemi Soneye, Kyari made this appeal when he received in audience the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Christopher Musa who led senior military officers on a courtesy visit to the NNPC Towers in Abuja, on Tuesday.

“I personally call for enhanced and sustained security engagement. This is because we have reached a new peak in production that we haven’t seen in the last three years. This is clearly related to the sustained efforts by the armed forces and other security agencies to protect our critical assets, particularly the pipeline infrastructure in specified areas where we are working closely with these agencies. We are already seeing the results transforming into increased production,” Kyari stated.

The GCEO, who commended  Musa and his team for their unwavering commitment to securing the nation’s critical hydrocarbon assets especially in the Niger Delta region in recent months, emphasized that these achievements are not only crucial to Nigeria but also to the global energy community.

He expressed confidence that the CDS and his team will deliver on the Presidential mandate to mitigate security-related challenges affecting the nation’s crude oil production.

“Components of this effort that depend on security are being effectively managed by you. Your coordinated and focused response is paving the way for improved security engagement, particularly in the Niger Delta,” he said.

Earlier in his remarks, Musa said the visit was intended to introduce the Monitoring Team to the NNPC Ltd, which will be responsible for interfacing with the Company and other stakeholders in the oil-producing regions to secure the nation’s critical hydrocarbon infrastructure.

While pledging commitment towards improving security and the performance of his troops, the CDS said the military will sustain the onslaught and analyse the troops’ capabilities to enhance their performance and bolster productivity.

He stressed the need to ramp up production for a prosperous economy and reassured collaboration with intelligence agencies, private security, state governments and host communities for enhanced performance.

“Working in silos won’t give us the best results. I want to assure you that we will collaborate with the necessary stakeholders to achieve our set targets as mandated by Mr. President.”