…as TSSNL pledges to continue the fight
Warri – Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has given Tantita Security Services Limited (TSSNL) and other security agencies a pat on the back for their continued onslaught against oil thieves, saying their collaborative efforts are yielding results.
This was made known by Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Christopher Musa, on behalf of the President while inspecting the MT. Kali Vessel that was arrested by Tantita and other security agencies at Oporoza, Delta State.
The CDS, who was in company of top military chiefs and officials of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, pledged to deal ruthlessly with oil thieves and their sponsors, saying the arrested vessel would be destroyed in line with standard practice to serve as a deterrent to others.
Major General Musa, speaking further, said, “It is a collaborative effort and we will continue to collaborate with the NNPC, the others, private security agencies, the main Federal Government agencies are also working together.
“I don’t want a situation where we create the impression as if there’s enmity between this group and that group.
We’re working for the same team. We’re all Nigerians; this is our country. Whatever is happening here is an act of criminality that must be stopped by all means. So, I want to make it very clear that all Nigerians must put hands on deck to ensure that we stop these acts.”
According to Musa, “the country is bleeding,” and “we need all the funds we need so that this country can grow and develop. It is just by stopping these criminals that we will make that very possible.”
He said the Chief of Defense Intelligence would investigate the suspects arrested to know “who is involved, what was taken, who sent them, and this is because we want to catch the perpetrators.”
He explained, “These are just the ground troops that are being used. The main actors are behind, and I want to use this opportunity to warn all those that don’t want to stop this, that enough is enough.
“The Armed Forces, the security agencies, the communities, private security agencies, wherever they are, are contracted as long as they’re contracted by the Federal Government, we’re going to work together as a team.
“There’s not going to be any competition between us, and please, the media should stop making it look as if there’s a fight, there is no fight.”
In August 2023, Tantita Security Services arrested a vessel, MT PRAISEL escorted by a Navy gunboat in the creeks of Delta State.
Meanwhile, few days before the commendation the Director of Operations of TSSNL, Captain Warredi Enisuoh, has restated the avowed commitment of TSSNL to continue the fight against the menance of crude oil theft in Nigeria in the face of distractions from those he said are responsible for the illegal business.
Captain Enisuoh said those fighting the private security firms contracted by the Federal government to ensure pipelines are secured are out to make them lose focus, but instead we will remain committed to bringing the monster of oil theft to his knees.
All those campaigning against private pipelines security outfits in ridding the Niger Delta waterways of oil theft are illegal oil bunkerers, Enisuoh alleged.
Captain Enisuoh made this known while parading MT Kali and the suspects arrested last Thursday while siphoning crude oil from one of the several platforms in Pennington Oil Field in Bayelsa State.
MT Kali was intercepted by operatives of TSSNL and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), offshore Sokebolou Field in Bayelsa State.
Parading the vessel and suspects at Oporoza, Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State on Sunday, Captain Enisuoh pledged to be resilient and cooperate with willing security agencies to sustain the fight against oil theft.
Captain Enisuoh said both human and technical intelligence were deployed to track the vessel, over time, before her eventual interception, confirming that the vessel had been involved in illegal oil thefts in the past.
“We want to seize this opportunity to let Nigerians know that those who campaign against the private security companies in participating in this fight are bunkerers.
“They can continue but we will not relent, we will not resist our efforts towards fighting this. We will continue to be resilient and we will definitely assist the country in resolving this.
“We will assist also the Nigerian security forces, which are happy to participate in securing our assets to do this job. Take it from here that I said so,” he said.
He said the vessel had on board a crew of 12 members along with 13 community workers, and that the vessel was intercepted at about 12:25am on Thursday, January 11, 2024, in the Ekeni Sea, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa.
While affirming that “the operation would not have been successful if not for the support of the NSCDC,” Enisuoh insisted that “the intercepted vessel was not on a leak activity.”
He said, “The ship was not on a legal activity. It was on an illegal activity. This ship has got no documentation. If you see the video evidence, the electronic evidence and the intelligence we had before we apprehended the ship, you will know that the exact location where we apprehended the ship was not designed for loading crude oil. It was only designed for producing crude oil.”
Two principal suspects arrested on board MT Kali were captain of the vessel, Caption David Adeboye and Promise Eze.
Fielding questions from journalists during the parade on Sunday, Captain Adeboye confirmed that the vessel had already siphoned 119 tons of stolen crude oil at the point of the interception.
Adeboye, who had earlier confessed that his boss is one Adeniyi, said he was instructed to test-run the vessel which had been anchored in Lagos for over a year.
He said he was also instructed to carry out some turnaround maintenance on the vessel before the ill-fated voyage to Bayelsa State.
He said: “When we set out from Lagos State, the boat has been in Lagos for more than a year. They were doing some maintenance on it.
“So when we came out, we were instructed to test run the engine. So for like 10 miles and after 10 miles and we are satisfied that she can go as far as Bayelsa, then we should let them know,” he said.
According to him, after a successful test-run, he and the crew were directed to sail to Bayelsa State and return to Lagos State with AGO (diesel).
He said on anchoring the vessel in Bayelsa State, the local agent he spoke to said it was AGO that was the original plan in his statement, but didn’t know when crude oil was delivered into the vessel.
“So when I got there, I dropped anchor and spoke with the agent which he also, as to his message statement, he confirmed that it was AGO that was the original plan to come and load.
“So at which point it now turned out to be crude that is what I am still battling with up till now. Currently, we have 119 tons of crude oil on board the vessel. The agent brought his boys and at the end of the day filled the vessel with crude.
“I don’t know and I tried to reach the management but where we were, the network was not good.”
