… Navy is blocking us from arresting oil thieves – Tantita
… It’s not true, we are working with partners, making big seizures – Navy
Tension seems to grow at sea in the battle to stop oil theft. Two may security groups (one private the other public) trusted by the Federal Government to team up and defeat oil thieves now seem against each other. One has accused the other of working for the oil thieves.
The FG had for over two years contracted an ex-militant leader in the Niger Delta, Government Ekpemupolo (alias Tompolo) to police the waters and stop oil theft. They were expected to support the work of the Navy which has traditional duty to protect the oil assets as Nigeria hopes to return to 2mbpd. Instead, Tompolo, CEO of Tantita Limited, has accused the Nigerian Navy of frustrating the war against crude oil theft in the region.
Media reports said Ekpemupolo fingered the Navy of aiding and abetting crude oil theft and other sharp practices associated with petrol products in the oil-rich rich region, adding that the Navy was encouraging illegal oil barons to sabotage the nation’s economy.
Ekpemupolo spoke in the week while receiving the national executive committee of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) led by its National President, Afam Osigwe (SAN), at Oporoza, Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State.
Ekpemupolo said the Navy was operating at cross-purpose with other state actors and private security outfit saddled with the surveillance over the nation’s economic assets in the Niger Delta.
He told the NBA leadership that operatives of the Navy were colluding with criminal elements to steal the nation’s oil wealth for pecuniary benefits.
Ekpemupolo, who is the Chairman of Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited (TSSNL), one of the private security outfits hired by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to curb the menace of crude oil theft, reeled out instances in which the operatives of the Navy had stalled the arrest of oil thieves at various creeks of the Niger Delta.
He said the operatives freely provide and offer security cover and protection for the oil thieves in the course of their nefarious activities. He said his boys often engage in open confrontation with Navy operatives
He said, “In fact, the Nigerian Navy is frustrating us. The operatives are neck deep in the menace of oil bunkering. They are making it difficult for us to win the war.”
Read also: Can Nigeria stem the tide of oil theft and secure its future?
Instances:
Pressed to provide instances, he said: “Just few days ago, men of Tantita Security Services intercepted a vessel carrying stolen crude oil in Port-Harcourt, the personnel of the Nigerian Navy provided escort duties onboard the vessel. The Navy personnel onboard the vessel and others speedily mobilised to the scene with gunboats and other equipment, opened fire on our men and officials of civil defence corps and DSS, who insisted that the vessel cannot sail further. The Naval personnel eventually prevailed due to their superior firepower, to secure passage for the vessel.”
He gave another instance: “Similar situation occurred at Ovwian community in Delta State, recently, when Naval personnel also overpowered and subdued Tantita operatives to secure safe passage for another vessels carrying stolen crude. The cases of involvement of Naval personnel in oil theft are too many to recount here.”
He said every well-meaning Nigerian knows the function of Nigerian Navy and Tantita now, but said nobody wants to come out to face the truth. “The Nigerian Navy we support to safeguard the nation’s maritime assets has sacrificed its constitutional obligation for pecuniary benefits,” Ekpemupolo lamented.
Ekpomukpolo also blamed lawyers who stand for arrested crude oil thieves and freed them. “If we happen to arrest anybody now, we would get a lawyer from Abuja, Lagos or Ibadan, to deploy all legal nuances to secure freedom for the criminal.”
He appealed to the NBA to look into that aspect. His hint seemed to confirm what is known in the oil region that the big fishes controlling oil bunkering usually cool off in top hotels in PH, Lagos, and Abuja to direct the foot soldiers at sea.
“This business is not for local business people. If somebody is coming to load a vessel of 500 metric tonnes, in this community, nobody has that capacity to embark on such job here, the person comes from either Lagos or neighbouring countries or Abuja.
“A hungry man here, who is serving as an errand boy to the barons, is the one that would be arrested.”
However, despite the challenges, Ekpemupolo assured that Tantita would collaborate with other patriotic bodies to ensure steady rise in the production of crude oil.
In his response, Osigwe, hailed Tantita and other stakeholders on the attainment of 1.8m barrels of crude oil per day.
He promised that the NBA would collaborate with Tantita and other stakeholders to stamp out the menace of crude oil theft in the region.
“We also thought to take this visit as an opportunity to see the impact of oil exploration in the environment of the oil-bearing communities in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. And also see in what ways, these communities which form the wealth base of the nation have benefitted from oil exploration activities and how the oil exploration has negatively impacted these communities.”
Read also: Troops block oil theft worth over N1.3bn in South-South
Navy reacts:
The Navy swiftly reacted denying any such accusations, but did not seem to react to the two specific incidents that the Tantita CEO mentioned. The general response from the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) described as ‘cheap blackmail’ the allegations by Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited (TSSNL) that the Nigerian Navy was frustrating the fight against crude oil theft.
The Director of Defence Media Operations, Edward Buba, said the allegation was laughable.
The major general said that the military always seeks the cooperation of all stakeholders in the ongoing fight against crude oil theft in the Niger Delta.
“That is what Nigeria wants. We want to increase the crude oil production of our nation and not all this cheap fighting.
“We are going to continue to try to work together with all partners but all this cheap blackmail, we should move past that in the interest of our nation.
“We will work together with all partners and I think that all this cheap blackmail should stop because the effort of our Navy is obvious to all,” he said.
The Navy rather went into achievements as Buba said the troops of Operation Delta Safe apprehended 51 perpetrators of oil theft and denied oil thieves an estimated sum of N921.8 million in the last week.
He said the troops also discovered and destroyed 56 illegal refining sites with 78 crude oil cooking ovens, 21 dugout pits, 56 boats, 56 drums and 26 storage tanks.
According to him, troops also recovered two speedboats, one barge, two tricycles, one pumping machine, two walkie-talkies, two outboard engines, nine mobile phones and 12 vehicles among others.
“Troops recovered 872,070 litres of stolen crude oil and 67,985 litres of illegally refined AGO.
“Based on the foregoing, it is clear that troops focus is on fighting terrorists across the country. Accordingly, the air force has been striking the terrorist enclaves with air attacks.
“Troops have also exerted significant military power on areas in which the terrorists are hibernating,’’ he added.
Conclusion:
Stakeholders have wondered where the private security outfits would lodge complaints to in the face of such situations.
The shootouts at sea may soon degenerate into full fights that may lead to deaths on either side while the oil thieves smile away.
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