Army seeks NDDC support to sustain peace in N’Delta

The immediate-past and new commanders of 2 Brigade, Nigerian Army Barracks in Port Harcourt, Brigadier General Koko Essien and Brigadier General Stevenson Olabanji, have commended the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, for co-operating with security agencies working in the Niger Delta region.

The two commanders were recently at the commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt on a courtesy visit to the NDDC Managing Director, Sir Bassey Dan-Abia.

Brig-Gen. Essien, who has been redeployed to the headquarters of the Nigerian Army in Abuja, charged the NDDC management to continue to support the military forces in the region. “I appreciate the support the NDDC gave to me and I hope that it will be extended to my successor,” he said.

He stated that he was handing over to an infantry commander, who was well equipped to tackle the challenges of maintaining peace in the Niger Delta, assuring the commission that the new commander would contribute his own quota in providing the peaceful environment necessary for sustainable development to thrive.

In his own remarks, the new commander, Brig-Gen. Olabanji, said he had always been interested in the activities of the NDDC as a son of the Niger Delta. He promised to sustain the cordial relationship between the Army and the commission. “I will do everything that is necessary to maintain this mutually beneficial relationship,” he said.

Responding, the NDDC Managing Director, Barrister Dan-Abia, said that it was significant that the two army commanders chose to visit the commission together. He said: “We have enjoyed the friendship and warmth of the out-going commander. As for the new commander, who is a proud son of the Niger Delta, we can only say welcome home.”

He said that since development could only take place in an atmosphere of peace and security, the commission would never take security issues for granted. “Apart from our core mandate of fast-tracking the development of the Niger Delta region, we also have a responsibility to ensure that the people of the region live in peace,” he said.