Fubara Pledges Deeper Army Partnership to Fight Economic Sabotage

Rivers Governor Siminalayi Fubara has promised the Nigerian Army sustained support as it confronts what he described as the vandalism of critical national assets.

Fubara made the pledge at the Government House in Port Harcourt while receiving Major General Everest Okoro, the newly deployed General Officer Commanding the Army’s 6th Division. Okoro was accompanied by senior officers and other security personnel. The division covers Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta and Akwa Ibom states.

The governor said cooperation between the Rivers government and the Army began before his administration and had provided support during difficult periods. “The Rivers State Government didn’t start this partnership today. It is a system that has been existing,” he said. Fubara added that his administration would give Okoro the support needed to succeed in his new assignment.

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The Rivers State Government didn’t start this partnership today. It is a system that has been existing.

He said current security conditions required government and security agencies to act together, with particular attention to oil and gas facilities. “We understand the kind of trying times that we are already in; it is not a time where you can do it on your own,” Fubara said. He called for joint action against criminals who vandalise and destroy national assets.

Fubara said the relationship extended beyond basic cooperation. The Rivers government, he said, would work with the Army as well as the Nigerian Air Force and Nigerian Navy. He also urged the new commander to prioritise Rivers because of the state’s strategic importance to the national economy.

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We understand the kind of trying times that we are already in; it is not a time where you can do it on your own.