The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, flagged-off the exercise on Saturday in Sapele, Delta State.
Addressing the troops, he urged them to respect the rights of law abiding citizens in their areas of operation whom he said were critical to the success of the exercise.
He said, “We are in Warri to flag-off this exercise in order to get our troops prepared for any eventuality .
“We need to keep our country safe. We need to get our economy going without any interruption".
“We hope that the economy will come up again and the facilities and the infrastructures in terms of the oil and gas will be protected and the people around will go about their normal businesses without fear of any attack.
“We hope that this will other investors to come around and that those companies that have already declared force majeure,”
The Chief of Army Staff and his entourage had earlier in separate courtesy visits to the Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa and the Olu of Warri, Godfrey Ikenwoli Emiko, briefed them on the exercise.
After the meeting with the Governor, Lieutenant General Buratai expressed hopes that at the end of the exercise that security would be achieved in the south-south region.
It is the second operation in the region after the Operation Delta Safe was set up to also quell the resurgence of militancy.
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