THE Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Vice-Admiral Ganiyu Adekeye, yesterday at the Delta Naval Base, Warri, said the Navy had information on the whereabouts of the kidnapped oil workers as well as data on the hoodlums who carried out the action.
He claimed the Navy had taken control of the creeks in a bid to track down the kidnappers.
The Naval chief, who was in Warri on Thursday shortly after the hostage incident, said it was to strengthen the operation of his men. He was accompanied by the Flag Officer Commanding Western Naval Command, Commander John Kpokpogri.
The Navy chief also denied reports in some quarters that Naval personnel were kidnapped alongside the four foreign oil workers at the EA Field of the Shell Petroleum Development Company, in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
He said: “No Naval personnel was abducted. All our men that participated in the incident are safe. The militants attacked an oil services’ vessel attached to the EA field. There were some Naval men aboard when the attack took place. There was exchange of gunfire. After the attack, the militants destroyed the communication equipment of the vessel before taking the foreign oil workers hostage.”
Adekeye disclosed that after the attack, the vessel proceeded to Port Harcourt, and that the other crew members on board were safe.
The Navy chief said if the Forward Operating Bases (FOB) being planned by the Navy in the Niger Delta area were functional, the attack would not have happened.
Jan142006