The management of Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, a federal government-contracted oil pipeline surveillance firm, has said the Nigerian Navy arrested four of its personnel for chasing suspected oil thieves on the high seas towards its base, and has demanded their release.
The security outfit contracted by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to protect pipelines from vandals disclosed this in a six-page statement made available to newsmen in Abuja yesterday.
The management which further accused the Nigerian Navy of shielding the oil thieves condemned the Navy’s oil theft claim as ‘smear campaign and a possible cover- up.
While clearing the air over the incident which occurred at the Lekki area of Lagos State on August 29, the company said; “Nigerians can see why we are forced to say that the Nigerian Navy’s press release was nothing but a smear campaign against Tantita and possibly a cover up.”
The explanation is backed up with a video evidence of the incident.
The Navy had in an earlier statement announced that its personnel stationed at Forward Operation Base (FOB) foiled the attempted oil theft on the waterways near Itolu community in Lekki, Lagos State, early last Tuesday.
However, Tantita has argued that its men were in pursuit of a motorised wooden boat that was “illegally” loading crude oil from an offshore oil well jackets.
The company said; “ In fact, we are talking about the same Well Jacket in OML 110 operated by Cavendish Petroleum Nigeria Limited, where the MT TURA II was caught stealing crude oil a few months ago.”
It expressed shock that rather than get back up, its personnel who were on the trail of the suspected oil thieves were instead arrested and detained for carrying out their lawful duty.
Drawing links to a prior operation involving both parties, the security outfit also raised questions about the Navy’s statement, including timelines, jurisdiction and neutrality of the military branch.
The company said; “The continued detention by the Nigerian Navy of these five brave, selfless Nigerians who risked their lives on the high seas to protect our commonwealth is a disservice to our nation.”
According to the company, an advance team was immediately dispatched to find the wooden boat while a back-up team of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps was assembled to follow through on the lead.
It further said; “Upon noticing the approaching Tantita team, the crew of the motorised wooden boat abandoned it for their speed boat.
“One team of Tantita and NSCDC personnel boarded the wooden boat to secure the evidence while another team gave a hot pursuit.
“There is video evidence of the Tantita team together with NSCDC personnel. There is also evidence of the Tantita and GSA team giving chase to the crew of the boat.”
“On 31st of August 2023 the world woke up to a news story credited to the commander, NNS BEECROFT of the Nigeria Navy, Commodore Kolawole Olumide Oguntuga, that the Nigerian Navy arrested four Tantita personnel for alleged crude oil theft. It would have been comedy, if it was not also tragedy.
“The Navy is a constitutional institution mandated to keep Nigeria’s seaward orders safe from invasion, criminality and free for economic activities. Tantita
respects the institution and its constitutional mandate. And it was out of that respect that a couple of weeks ago when there was a face-off between the service and Tantita over the MT Praisel, our organisation preferred to leave the Nigerian Navy to have the last word on the issue.
“It was our belief at the time that the matter was a misunderstanding which could have been better handled for the good of the nation and the common objective of Tantita and the Navy – the prevention of economic sabotage by oil thieves plying their nefarious trade on our nation’s waterways.
“However the present incident, coming barely three weeks after, does not seem to support that notion. What seems to be playing is a poorly written tragicomedy.
“The Nigerian Navy claims to have been responding to distress calls from youths in Itolou community in the Lekki axis of Lagos, and “reviewing the information, Naval patrol teams immediately launched a response operation. Upon arrival at the scene, the Naval team met 4 individuals dressed in black polo shirts with TANTITA inscribed on the back, trying to recover a dismantled outboard engine from a local. The team recovered the engine and apprehended the 4 Tantita employees.
“So it would be seen that at the time of arrest, the only crime that the Tantita
operatives were alleged to have committed was trying to recover a dismantled outboard engine. Thus, recovering outboard engines is now a crime.”
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