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The Federal Government is poised to
address the menace of oil bunkering and security at the ports, vice
president, Namadi Sambo, said on Monday, in Abuja.

Speaking while representing President
Goodluck Jonathan at the Inter-Ministerial/Inter-Agency meeting on
human capital development master plan for the amnesty programme at the
State House, he said “the meeting was to articulate ways to
rehabilitate ex-militants and other Niger Delta youths in the Nigerian
Seafarers Development training programme.”

He also said that at the end of the training, there would be more personnel to take care of the nation’s coasts.

Mr. Sambo noted that “the incessant
insecurity at our coasts is as a result of inadequate coast guards who
may give information and perfectly protect the coasts,” and added that
“there is need to train more people as coast guards.”

He further disclosed that the Federal
Government is determined to acquire more helicopters and sub-marines to
fight illegal bunkering and other insecurity problems on the country’s
waterways.

The vice president said sustainable
peace in the Niger Delta can only be achieved if there is enough
surveillance by the security agencies.

A technical committee was set up to
work on modalities for the training. The committee was mandated to
discuss insecurity at the ports and creeks; address the immediate,
medium, and long term issues of illegal-bunkering and internal
collaborators; co-opt other security agencies like the Navy, Air-force,
Police, and Maritime Security Agency (MSA) for effective report.

The committee, which comprises the
director general of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency
(NIMASA); minister of transport; the group managing director of NNPC;
and the managing directors of Nigerian Ports Authority and Petroleum
Technology Development Fund, who were also at the meeting, has nine (9)
days to complete its report.

Speaking at the meeting, the director
general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration, Mr. Temisan Omatseye,
said the present state of affairs in seafarer training in Nigeria can
be traced to the demise of the state owned Nigeria National Shipping
Line (NNSL).

He was, however, optimistic that the
agency has taken practical steps within the existing Nigerian Seafarer
Development Programme training framework with foreign countries
including Vietnam, South Africa, India, Philippines, and Egypt, to
train space commitment of 2,150 Ratings in the next six (6) to seven
(7) months.

In his observation, the special adviser
to the president on Niger Delta, Mr. Timi Alaibe, lamented that the
Niger Delta states are not taking advantage of the programme by sending
more contingents for the training, adding that only 6,500 people, which
represent fifteen percent of the number of people for the training,
showed interest.

He urged the Nigerian Maritime
Administration to speed up with the programme, which according to him,
“will reduce the crime rate in the area.”

He also told journalists that the
blowing up of the AGIP oil pipeline in Bayelsa State on the 29th of
0ctober, was an isolated criminal incident, adding that this did not
mean there was a resurgence in the activities of militants in the
region.

He emphasised that judging from where
they were coming from, the security situation in the Niger Delta has
improved because of the amnesty programme, noting that from below
700,000 barrels per day, Nigeria is now producing over 2 million
barrels per day.

The special adviser, who attended the meeting to streamline the
processes of integration and training of the over 7,000 ex-militants,
both in the country and abroad, insisted that despite the hiccups being
experienced, the amnesty programme was on course.