N’Delta: Tackling Crude Oil Theft Through Local Security Surveillance

Emmanuel Addeh writes that the deployment of local surveillance groups in the Niger Delta, spearheaded by Tantita Security Services Ltd., may have been a strategic decision by the federal government which is already paying off.

Without doubt, crude oil is the lifeblood of the Nigerian economy. So, as should be expected, when there is any disruption to the flow of this important natural resource found mainly in the Niger Delta, Nigeria literally feels the shock waves.

The nation’s oil industry has had its own fair share of upheavals, but in 2022, the crisis got to a head when the country’s efforts to export crude at a volume to keep the economy afloat crumbled, to put it mildly.

With oil production dipping to as low as less than 1 million barrels per day in contrast to the 1.8 million bpd quota allocated to the country by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) at the time, the government knew it was time to act differently.

And so, around the middle of that year, championed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), the federal government decided to involve those it thought knew the terrain and could rein in the suspected saboteurs.

For the NNPC and indeed the federal government, there could have been no better single individual or entity to make a significant difference other than a former Niger Delta agitator, Government Ekpemupolo otherwise known as Tompolo and his company, Tantita Security Services (TSS) ltd.

Long plagued by pipeline vandalism and oil theft, the criminal activities of the oil thieves have not only harmed the environment and local communities but also cost the country billions of dollars in lost revenue.

The situation was further complicated by the sophisticated nature of the criminal networks involved who used advanced technology to hack into pipeline systems and siphon off oil.

But from that low of 1 million bpd in 2022, Nigeria has gradually continued to ramp up production, increasing it by as much as 50 per cent, including blended and unblended condensate.

To put this in proper context, from that figure around about Q3 2022, production from all sources has now risen to 1.5 million bpd in June this year, according to latest data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the industry regulator.

According to Ekpemupolo, Tantita is tackling the scourge of illegal oil bunkering through a comprehensive and inclusive strategy aimed at not only halting the illegal activity but also educating and engaging those involved on the need to halt their nefarious activities.

He said that by ‘carrying everybody along’ the strategy was meant to address the root causes of the crisis and promote sustainable solutions, stressing his preference for a peaceful Niger Delta.

Speaking on the efforts of the company to reduce the menace to the minimum, the Tantita chief stated that the unfortunate thing was that the people involved do not  understand the magnitude of destruction going on in the environment.

“ So we continue to engage them, enlighten them, and give them some part of the work to do, so that they will be part and parcel of what we are doing. So we are now working with women, our fathers, and everybody to see that we follow the right path, because we don’t have any other place to call our country.

“ And that is the reason we don’t also want to be second-class citizens in this country, because we produce the oil that feeds everybody in this nation,” he stated .

It is not yet Uhuru. In fact, the NNPC’s aspiration to increase production to at least 2 million bpd has still not yet been achieved . But significant progress has been made by the company leading the charge to rid the Niger Delta of crude oil theft.

This has also drawn accolades from several quarters, including traditional rulers, senators, reps members, ministers as well as ordinary Nigerians, who have expressed their confidence in the company’s ability to deliver results and ensure the success of the pipeline security project.

Prominent monarchs and key stakeholders from the Niger Delta region, that have spoken in support of the ongoing efforts include, among others, is His Royal Majesty Obukowo Whiskey, paramount ruler of Ijere Kingdom in Delta State.

“We are talking of critical national infrastructure, the oil infrastructure. For you to protect them, you need to have a large heart, you need to have a synergy with all the critical stakeholders, and that is exactly what High Chief Government Tompolo is doing.

“And I want to encourage all our Niger Delta people to key into this project, and I tell the federal government to continue to sustain this project,” Whiskey said.

With a team of highly trained personnel and state-of-the-art technology, Tantita says it is set out to continually detect and prevent oil theft as well as reduce the environmental impact of oil pollution. The company insists that its approach has been highly effective.

Managing Director of Tantita Security Services, Keston Pondi, along with some management staff, including Capt. Warredi Enisuo, Executive Director of Operations and Technical, reiterated Tantita’s commitment to combating oil theft and ensuring the protection of Nigeria’s oil resources.

“Tompolo is 100 per cent committed to eradicating this menace of illegal oil theft and refining from the Niger Delta. One of the reasons being that it degrades the environment, it destroys our environment, it creates health hazards for our people.

“And another one is that with this kind of contract, we are going to have employment abundantly for our teeming youths, and then it will definitely increase production in the oil industry,” said Pondi

In his intervention, Enisuo, who is in charge of operations, maintained that the Chairman of Tantita Security Services, Ekpemupolo has given marching orders on what to do to tackle the menace of oil theft.

“The marching order was simple: You must make sure that you go out there and clean up everything that’s necessary. I remember vividly when I went on my first tour of the creeks regarding this whole adventure. There were fishes floating belly up, and you could smell crude oil. The moment the tide goes down, you could see crude oil hanging from the branches of the mangroves.

“That was how bad things were. When we discovered the sophistication with which most of the international groups perpetrate these crimes, we had no choice than to invest in high-level technology. And that is where we had to employ the use of drones with infrared capability.

“Most of the criminals do perpetrate their crimes at night, and that is where drone technology with infrared capability comes into play. So at night, when we fly our long-range drones, medium-range drones, over certain areas, anything that is friendly will continue to remain the way it is.

“But anything that we suspect, becomes white. That has made it very, very easy for us to detect when people are planning to do nefarious things against the country, or give us a chance to go in and interrogate to check if they are doing the right thing.

“That is why we have been very, very successful when it comes to the technology side of things,” he stated.

Other prominent Nigerians have asked the company and its owner, Ekpemupolo to build on the existing achievement to ensure that Nigeria further raises production.

Some of them include: The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, former Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Dakuku Peterside, and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mike Ozekome.

They urged Tantita to sustain and intensify its efforts to further boost Nigeria’s daily crude oil production and solidify the company’s impact on the country and globally.

“I want to use this medium to congratulate  Government Ekpemupolo for what they are doing in terms of security and securing the pipeline against vandalism and also theft of crude oil. They’ve increased it to 1.6 million barrels now.

“But we are imploring that they should do more and increase it to 2.6 to 3 million barrels per day so that the effect of dollar and the pressure on naira will come down in Nigeria,” the monarch stated.

On his part , Peterside said: “Tantita’s security are really adding value. You can see that oil production has gone up, theft has reduced and indeed that’s what we need as a country. We need to earn more foreign exchange and you can’t ignore the little contribution they are making in that area.”  

In the same vein, Ozekome advised Tompolo to continue to secure the assets and increase oil production and make the coastal areas safer for business activities.

Tantita lists some of its specific successes since 2022 to include securing over 1,200 kilometres of pipelines, dismantling over 500 illegal bunkering sites, arresting and prosecuting over 300 oil thieves and preventing an estimated 20 million barrels of oil from being stolen.

The Head of Media and Publicity at Tantita Security Services, Paul Bebenimibo, noted that the company was committed to plugging all gaps and vulnerabilities in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, ensuring no room was left for illegal activities to occur.

Again, Enisuo, who is in charge of the, insists that without the cooperation of the NNPC,  it would have been very difficult to see the level of progress being made today.

“The people we are fighting are not just local cartels, they are international cartels as well. At some point, even the GCEO’s life was under threat, even our own gallant officers who have been part of this war have been threatened. So that is to tell you how bad the situation is,” he added.

Chairman of the House Committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Fred Agbedi, and Julius Pondi, Chairman of the House Committee on Environment, specifically acknowledged that ongoing efforts have led to a significant increase in crude oil output.

“ The amount of ships that penetrate the creeks for the purpose of stealing crude oil have reduced drastically…Now, most of the ships that had the boldness to even come inside the creeks to load directly from the trunk lines are beginning to be scared, and that is why they are now targeting the platforms outside,” Julius Pondi stressed.

Agbedi, on his part , said that Tantita should be given the opportunity to also watch both coastal and deep waters so as to stop stealing of Nigeria’s crude.

Adding his voice to the work so far done, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, stated that Nigeria was making progress in oil earnings following improvements in security in the Niger Delta.

“There’s a problem of pipeline vandalism, illegal bunkering that’s going on in the Niger Delta. It has become an existential problem, and we need to fight these criminals to submission.

“As a responsible government, we’ve decided that we’re going to put a stop to it. We’re going to work with stakeholders to ensure that we stop all these nonsense from continuing.

“I want to use the opportunity to express our gratitude to Tantita as was commissioned by NNPC to be able to do some work,” Lokpobiri said. “But we need to do a lot more to ensure that this thing is put to a total stop,” he added.

 A former Bayelsa Governor and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ecology and Climate Change, Seriake Dickson, also applauded Tantita for its efforts in combating pipeline vandalism and oil theft and mitigating the environmental impact.

“I want to use this opportunity to appreciate my younger brother, GOC, as we call him, Tompolo and Tantita, for the contributions they are making in the area of stopping vandalism of strategic national assets within this territory.

“I want to thank him and Tantita for reducing illegal bunkering and for also trying their best in reducing the environmental dangers occasioned by the illegal refineries and those who are operating them and the way they tamper with pipelines and cause spillage and pollution on our farmlands and our waterways.

“ And I have said over and over that the good thing that the federal government and the NNPC and all the agencies have done is by engaging a man who understands the terrain. But a lot still has to be done,” he explained.