Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has dismissed insinuations that governors are putting security votes in their private pockets instead of using the money to fight crimes within their domains.
Wike spoke at the weekend when he donated 14 ballistic gunboats to the Navy, Army, Police, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) at the NNS Pathfinder, Naval Base, Rumuolumeni in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area.
Wike said the donation including the provisions of other equipment and logistics was a demonstration of how governors deployed their security votes to strengthen the capacity of security agencies to fight crimes.
Wike charged security agencies to restrict the deployment of the gunboats in Rivers to tackle the menace of sea piracy and illegal oil bunkering activities.
He insisted that the army, navy, police, and others were involved in illegal oil bunkering, lamenting that the country’s economy would remain vulnerable if such criminal activities including artisanal refining of crude oil continued unabated.
The governor said the frustration in the fight against illegal refining of crude oil was caused by security personnel providing cover for the criminals.
He said: “Most of the problem we have with illegal oil bunkering is that security agencies are fully involved in this illegal oil bunkering. That’s the truth. Civil Defence is involved. Army is involved. Police are involved. The Navy is involved. Let us tell ourselves the simple truth.”