Military, Tantita In Fresh Offensive Against Oil Thieves

In a bold move to contain the rise in illegal bunkering activities amid recent increased output of Nigeria’s crude oil, the Nigerian military has commenced what it called a ‘coordinated operation’ to cleanse the oil rich Niger Delta region of remnants of crude oil thieves.

While the planned operation is set to commence in the next days, details about it are still kept in close wraps even as the Nigerian Army led operation will be carried out with the collaboration of a major private pipeline security company, Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited.

A highly placed military source while denying that the Nigerian Army has withdrawn its personnel seconded to Tantita, said, the planned clean up operation will focus mainly on the waters of the western fringe of the Niger Delta with focus on Ondo State.

This development comes on the heels of a report by an online news platform  that the Nigerian Army had withdrawn its personnel attached to one of Tantita’s field operators.

The source said:

“We all saw the reports about the purported withdrawal of the personnel attached to Tantita in Ondo State but it’s a lie because if it were to be true, a signal to that effect would have been at our disposal.

“But as we speak, there is nothing close to that at all. And it will shock you that rather than withdraw all personnel, the order we have is to clean up the Ondo waters of the Niger Delta in collaboration with Tantita. So how can we be asked to collaborate with Tantita if it is true that our men were withdrawn from the company.

“The operation will be a joint operation and it will be massive and decisive because we know that there are several illegal bunkering kingpins in Ondo state who are sponsoring unrests against people fighting illegal activities in the waterways of that state.

“We know them and we know that their mission is to create problems after they lost out in the power play of contract sharing in Abuja and also ensure they use some unsuspecting persons to create insecurity. We will go after them soonest, especially as we approach the festive period”, he said.

The development is coming days after the Chairman and Managing Director of Chevron Nigeria/Mid-Africa business unit, Mr Jim Swartz, disclosed that Chevron recorded zero incidents of sabotage in the past year.

Swartz made the disclosure during his recent visit to the corporate headquarters of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission in Abuja. “Chevron has not recorded any oil theft or attacks on our pipelines this year. This is the longest we’ve gone without oil theft,” Swartz was quoted as saying in a statement.

Chevron is a member of the Oil Producers Trade Section, a subgroup of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry. OPTS is a private industry group dedicated to the exploration, development, and production of Nigeria’s oil and gas resources in a sustainable and beneficial manner for the Nigerian people. It represents the interests of approximately 31 oil and gas companies that collectively operate about 85 per cent of Nigeria’s oil.

The record-breaking success story of Chevron is reportedly linked to the strides recorded by Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, a private pipeline security surveillance company owned by High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, widely known as Tompolo.

The statement stated that the approach taken by TSSNL, using technology and local intelligence, has enhanced monitoring and control of activities in the region and contributed to the increase in the nation’s oil production output from 2022 to the present.

Also, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the International Oil Companies have been able to ramp up production to 1.8 million barrels per day, unlike in the past when production was trapped at 600,000 barrels per day.

With unhindered production, the government is setting a target of 2.06 million barrels per day, as unveiled in the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework revealed to newsmen last week by the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu.