The Nigerian Navy, Forward Operating Base (FOB), Igbokoda, Ondo State, under the ongoing Operation Delta Sanity in the Niger-Delta, has taken the campaign against criminalities to students in secondary school in the state.
According to the Commanding Officer, FOB, Navy Captain Wasuku Alushi, the move became imperative in order to sensitise the students against being lured into the world of criminalities by criminals on the prowl recruiting teenagers.
While disclosing this at Ilaje High School in Igbokoda, headquarters of the Ilaje Local Council Area of the state, where 1,000 educational materials were distributed to the students, Alushi stated that the exercise was designed to eradicate oil theft and illegal bunkering in the region.
The Navy Captain maintained that the exercise tagged Operation Delta Sanity non-kinetic, which also included career and health talk as well as mass school deworming, will help in curbing criminal activities in the Niger Delta.
He said: “Delta Sanity is conducted broadly along two lines of efforts: the kinetic line of effort, which involves the deployment of raw military power to curb criminality in the Niger Delta environment, while the second involves non-kinetic efforts, which include community advocacy and other non-kinetic initiatives like what we did today’
“Our choice to embark on an educational initiative here at Igbokoda as part of the non-kinetic effort is very intentional. The reason is that there is a nexus between education and national security. Every idea, whether positive or negative, starts with the mind, and if the mind is not liberated, there isn’t much that can be achieved.
“This is why we feel we should engage with these students today to sanitise their minds” and also extend the Chief of the Naval Staff’s kind gesture to them.
“Earlier this year, precisely on the 10th of January, the Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, flagged off Delta Sanity 1 with the broad objective of sensitising the Niger Delta environment against the menace of crude oil theft, illegal oil bunkering, and other vices such as kidnapping and cultism.
The commanding officer noted that a substantial number of individuals involved in illegalities are from the same age group as the students.
“Part of the objectives of Delta Sanity is to substantially reduce the recruitment base of the criminal elements by sanitising the minds of these young ones. Many of them are involved in these criminalities due to negative influences.
Speaking on the initiative, the principal of the school lauded the effort, saying it would encourage the students in various areas, including health, education, and career planning.
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