Yuletide: CDS donates food, other items to correctional centre in Bayelsa

Nathan Tamarapreye, Yenagoa

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, has donated food and sundry items to Okaka Correctional Centre in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital.

Items donated on Saturday to inmates to commemorate the Yuletide included rice, noodles, table oil, tissue papers, among other materials.

The items were donated to mark the end-of-year activities for personnel of the Joint Task Force Operation Delta Safe.

Presenting the items on behalf of the CDS, Rear Admiral Olugbenga Oladipo, Commander, JTF OPDS, noted that the items given to the Correctional Centre were intended for the inmates.

He said they would continue to support in their own capacity to ensure that inmates are living a better life and to give them a sense of belonging.

Represented by the Maritime Component Commander, JTF, Commodore B.O. Onalo, he said the fact that they are confined does not make them written off by the world.

He assured them that there is still life after serving their sentences, “Our own belief is that one day they will finish serving their terms and they will come out and join us,” he said.

On his part, Mr. Ogundare Rasheed, Deputy Controller of Corrections at Okaka Centre, commended the JTF Commander for their kind gesture towards the inmates.

According to him: “This is not the first time. I assumed office here a year ago, and this is the third of its kind that they have come here to present items for the inmates under the Correctional Centre,” he said.

In another development, the CDS treated troops of the joint force serving at the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) facility at Kwale to a Christmas luncheon at the facility.

The CDS applauded the resilience and dedication of troops deployed to protect oil installations in the Niger Delta region.

Represented by the JTF Commander, the CDS said that the luncheon was aimed at recognising the dedication and sacrifices of the troops in safeguarding lives and maintaining peace, particularly during the festive season.

He reiterated the military’s commitment to improving the living and working conditions of personnel and their families.