The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has warned that it would not tolerate Urhobo Progress Union’s (UPU) threat against Tantita security service, saying the latter should back off now or be ready to face the full wrath and resistance of Ijaw youth.
The IYC gave the warning following UPU’s recent letter to the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, demanding the termination of Tantita’s pipeline surveillance contract and its reassignment to an exclusively Urhobo security outfit.
IYC President, Theophilus Alaye, in a statement issued on Monday, said the move by UPU was nothing but ethno-political blackmail, dangerous enough to threaten inter-ethnic unity and national security.
He maintained that UPU’s demand that Tantita’s contract be “decentralised and reapportioned” to Urhobo —or they would “no longer guarantee the flow of oil to the Forcados Terminal” was baseless and hypocritical threat.
Alaye added: “We reject in the strongest terms these cowardly and criminal tactics. Tantita Security Services, led by the Chairman, High Chief Government Tompolo and Vice Chairman, Matthew Tonlagha has delivered measurable security benefits—reviving oil output from a crash to 650,000 bpd and near-eliminating pipeline theft in Urhobo territories.
“Even Urhobo leaders such as Mayor Akpodoro and Delta State’s security assistant, Godwin Okporoko, have publicly rebuked UPU’s ill-advised stunt and reaffirmed that Urhobo youths are being employed and benefiting from Tantita Security Services.
“Let this stand as our ultimatum: the IYC and all Ijaw communities will mobilise and take every measure—legal, political, and direct—to defend this contract. We will not retreat one inch from protecting a security arrangement that restores dignity, enhances oil revenue, and underpins regional stability.”
The council called on President Bola Tinubu, NSA Ribadu and relevant stakeholders to ignore UPU’s ethnic tantrum, saying, “Do not be distracted by their blackmail.”
“To the UPU: your threats amount to economic warfare. Back off now, or be ready to face the full wrath and resistance of Ijaw youth and our allies across the Niger Delta,” IYC stated.
