By Blessing Olaifa, Abuja and Augustine Okezie, Katsina

• Aregbesola launches eight gunboats in Rivers

• Katsina donates nine APCs to security agencies

President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered security forces to take the war against oil thieves and vandals to their territory and bring them to justice.

Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola said this yesterday in Port Harcourt,  Rivers State, during the inauguration of eight gunboats for the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

“Those who steal crude oil not only deny the country of the much-needed revenue; they sell the stolen goods at discounted prices, well below the market value. This black market creates a glut and forces down the official price. They have therefore made Nigeria to suffer the double jeopardy of loss in revenue and drop in value of the product.

“President Muhammadu Buhari has given us the resources and the marching orders to take the war to them. As a step in this direction, the Federal Government is taking adequate steps to equip relevant security agencies and, by extension, the NSCDC, which is the lead agency in the protection of critical national assets and infrastructure,” the minister said.

Read Also: Ending oil theft debacle

A statement signed by the Minister’s media aide, Sola Fasure, said: “In the latest estimate, billions of dollars are lost to oil thieves and vandals. There is no gainsaying the fact that the Federal Government is committed and determined to curb the menace of oil theft which is bleeding the economy mindlessly, a development which has led to a drop in the earnings of the government.”

The Katsina State government yesterday also donated nine  Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) to security agencies combating terrorism particularly in nine frontline local government areas of the state

Governor Aminu Masari while the presentations the military hardware, said his andministration was making effort to procure more APCs for an effective fight against the outlaws.

He commended the inspector General of Police for donating two APCs to aid security operations in the state

He said, “The state government is also working on the social aspect of the security operations in the state through nation and state social programmes to provide succour for the victims of banditry attacks”.