A group, South-South Professionals & Transparency Initiative (SSPTI), has appealed to the federal government not to succumb to the ongoing cheap blackmail against the renewal of the contract of Tantita Security Services.
The group stated that the outfit had done remarkably well in policing the nation’s critical assets across the region and appealed that the Tantita’s pipeline surveillance contract be renewed.
The appeal was contained in a statement signed its chairman and publicity secretary, Dr. Ugochukwu Alozie and Engr. Kayode Ayomide respectively and made available to newsmen in Warri.
The body described those working against the contact renewal as enemies of the nation and region in particular.
Basing its defense for Tantita’s contract renewal on statistical evidences on crude oil theft along the Niger Delta waterways in the last ten years, the body averred that the region had recorded drastic reductions in cases of pipeline vandalism and illegal oil trade that was prevalent in the area before the security contract was awarded to the outfit in 2022.
According to the statement; “South-South Professionals & Transparency Initiatives (SSPTI) as the name implies is a group made up of professionals drawn from various fields of human endeavors with diverse ethnic backgrounds but resident in various states across the Niger Delta region.
“Our members are bonded by convictions to promote good governance through probity and accountability of public funds, as well as ensuring a secured environment for the nation’s critical assets towards the realisation of an egalitarian society where our common patrimony would be protected for our collective good.
“We have watched with keen interest the blackmailing, falsehood as well as political and personal interest that had taken place in recent times over the renewal of pipelines surveillance contract awarded to Tantita Security Services and we made bold to say enough is enough of the desperate efforts by some cabals to hijack the security contract for selfish reason,” the statement read.
The group observed that it had it on good authority that these politicians who are newly appointed into office as ministers and National Assembly lawmakers, mostly from the zone, alongside some self-seeking ex-militants who are taking advantage of their closeness to President Bola Tinubu, wanted to either hijack the contract or take a good percentage off it as their entitlement.
“It is evident that these cabals within the corridors of power of the present administration are working in conjunction with a section of the military who are not too comfortable with the uncompromising nature of the Tantita operatives along the creeks while carrying out their illicit oil deals.
“From available statistics at our disposal, it is evident that illegal oil deals across the region have reduced drastically in the last one year when the surveillance contract was awarded to Tantita, as against what was experienced in previous years when cases of crude oil theft rose embarrassingly, even with the intimidating presence of the military in our area.
“We are therefore using this medium to call on President Bola Tinubu, not to succumb to any kind of pressure or influence from any quarter not to renew the contract of Tantita Security Services in order to sustain the obvious improvement in the nation’s crude oil capacity production per day.
“We also want to appeal that President Tinubu, as the substantive Minister of Petroleum, to understand the need to protect the environment of the people along coastal areas from severe pollution of the waterways, as a result of illegal bunkering activities which had reduced drastically in recent time due to the effectiveness of Tantita operatives in checkmating criminal activities in the region.
The group described those opposed to the renewal of Tantita’s contract as enemies of the region whose singular motive is to ensure the return of massive illegal bunkering along the coastal areas with both their local and international collaborators.
