- Investors Hail FG, OGFZA Over Drop in Piracy
Investors in the Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone have commended the leadership of the Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority and the Federal Government for the significant decline in pirate attacks around Onne in the last three months.
The drop in the incidence of piracy follows representations to the federal authorities by OGFZA on security concerns in the area.
In February, the Managing Director, OGFZA, Mr. Umana Okon Umana, wrote to the National Security Adviser, Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno (retd.), to draw attention to the deteriorating security situation around the seaport marked by increase in the incidence of piracy and its consequential impact on investments in the area, particularly in the oil and gas free zone.
The letter by Umana led to a security meeting with the Flag Officer Commanding the Eastern Naval Command, Rear Admiral James Oluwole, and a subsequent deployment of warships and patrol boats to secure the region and provide safe passage for commercial ships.
The better protection of the waterways has helped to significantly bring down the rate of pirate attacks on shipping, as well as sabotage of oil and gas facilities in area, Oluwole said in a recent interaction with the management of the OGFZA.
Commenting on the security outlook in the port area, the terminal operator of Indorama/Eleme Petrochemicals Limited, Manjunath Gowdara, said, “Security has improved since the Umana administration came into office. For about three months now, there’s zero incidence of attacks both on land and at sea.”