How to end crude oil theft in the Niger Delta is the priority of the Federal Government, which made a strategic decision to assign the critical security surveillance to Tantita Security Services Limited. Deputy Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU examines the challenges of policing oil in the region.
Oil, commonly referred to as the black gold, is a blessing to Nigeria, which prides itself as the sixth largest producer of the crude in the world.
It is the major source of national revenue on which the six geo-political zones depend. That is why oil theft is a crime and threat to national survival. The crime is perpetrated through illegal appropriation of crude or refined oil products from the pipelines of multinational oil companies.
These realities made the Federal Government to secure the services of Tantita Security Services Limited to keep the pipelines safe, prevent thieving and enable the country reap the maximum benefits of the natural endowment.
Oil theft is a collective enterprise involving many individuals and groups. It is often accomplished through the joint efforts and cooperation among unscruplous security forces, militia organizations, the local population, and oil company employees.
These criminals use a variety of methods to steal oil from the multinational oil corporations-Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Equinor, Shell, and Agip.
Oil theft has compounded the problem of corruption in Nigeria. Each group in the criminal chain maintains a specific role in the oil theft trade, using methods such as hot-tapping and cold-tapping to perform oil bunkering and steal thousands of barrels of oil per day from established oil pipelines.
Apart from stealing oil from pipelines, oil theft also occurs during the transportation of the crude oil product to the oil shipping terminals for export. Efforts to stem the tide led to stiff resistance and violence in the Niger Delta in the past.
Eighty per cent of total export revenue come from the petroleum products revenue in Nigeria. According to analysts, political and military elite have sought to consolidate their control of the oil trade. In reaction to the monopoly over the trade, many villagers pursue the illegal refinery of stolen crude oil as means of entering into this unofficial economy.
They indulge in hot-tapping, cold-tapping and terminal and vehicular transportation theft.
In the process of hot-tapping, which is very complex and dangerous, an illegal secondary pipeline belonging to criminals is attached to a high-pressure primary pipeline belonging to a multinational corporation. After this breach is successful, oil is diverted from the primary pipeline into mobile oil bunkering facilities that are attached to the secondary pipeline. By gradually withdrawing small amounts of oil, the primary pipeline is able to function at an almost normal pressure and can remain undetected by oil corporation officials.
In cold-tapping, a portion of a pipeline is blown up and a secondary pipeline is attached to the shut-down primary pipeline. After the primary pipeline is repaired, the existence of the secondary pipeline’s access to the oil flow is unknown since the overall pipeline pressure will not fluctuate.
However, theft is also rampant at the port terminals where crude and refined oil products await shipment to international locations and during the transportation of oil products from corporate facilities. At this level, administrative collusion and security force corruption may facilitate the siphoning of oil shipment reserves into criminal fuel tanks. These fuel trucks are used to transport illegal products for sale in neighboring African countries where the price for oil is substantially higher than the subsidized rates in Nigeria.
According to observers, oil corporations do not have oil meters at the source of production. Since they are only present at export facilities, there is a lack of oversight into managing the initial value of oil that was produced by the multinational oil corporations.
As the livelihood of the national economy, oil disruption provokes panic and anger at the upheavals. In 2022, the country’s oil industry was in operational distress, following its inability to meet the export target. Oil production crumbled to an embarrassing level of one million barrels per day, in contrast to the 1.8 bpd quota allocated to Nigeria by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
The reality of a looming disaster dawned on the government. As criminals were feeding fat on stolen oil, Nigeria slided into a financial lean period. Thus, the Federal Government, through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), evolved a novel strategy of involving those who are conversant with the Niger Delta terrain to tackle the ecnomic saboteurs.
Since then, former Niger Delta agitator, Government Ekpemupolo Tompolo and his company, Tantita Security Services (TSS) Limited, have made the difference. Their terms of reference were to prevent pipeline vandalism and oil theft, which had seriously harmed the environment and local communities while government was also losing billions of dollars on daily basis.
It was a challenging assignment, judging by the sophisticated nature of the criminal networks, the deployment of advanced technology to hack into pipeline systems and siphon off oil, and the resistance by suspected barons.
However, the approach paid off for the country. From the abysmal one million bpd in 2022, Nigeria recorded an increased production by 50 percent. Last month, acvording to the statistics by the regulator, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), production rose to risen to 1.5 million bpd.
Ekpemupolo explained that Tantita mustered the strength to tackling the scourge of illegal oil bunkering through a comprehensive and inclusive strategy, using two approaches.
The first strategy is a combination of blunt resistance to sabotage and authentic force, the language understood and loathed by men of the underworld. This has assisted in halting the illegal activity. It is in the national interest.
The second strategy, which is also effective, involves educating, enlightening, sensitising and engaging those involved in the bad behaviout to halt their nefarious activities. This is premised on the assumption that when there is involvement, there will be commitment.
Ekpemupolo said: “By carrying everybody along, the strategy was meant to address the root causes of the crisis and promote sustainable solutions.” The second approach is dictated by the overall concern and preference for total peace in the Niger Delta.
Tantita has been confronted by hurdles. There are other stakeholders who are jealous of the company because of the success being recorded, which has accounted for its soaring security profile. Many are those who think that the huge task should not be exclusively given to Tantita, although they lack the stamina for the rigour of ensuring security on the creeks. Also, those committing the economic crimes also perceive the company as an obstacles to their illegal livelihood.
But, the company has remained focussed and never distracted by the antics of detractors. Ekpemupolo lamented that the people involved do not understand the magnitude of havoc they wreck on the the environment.
On the sustained efforts to curtail the activities of the bad elements, through the psycho-social approach, he said: “ 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.
“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. 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.”
Success has been recorded. But, the security outfit cannot afford to sleep on guard. There is still gap between expectation and reality. The NNPC has a target to increase production to at least, two million bpd. It is still a tall order. The cherry news from the Niger Delta is thatcit is no more business as usual.
Stakeholders, including traditional rulers, National Assembly members, many members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and industry players have applauded the feats. But, they were also quick to implore the company to be permanently vigilant.
A monarch, Obukowo Whiskey, paramount ruler of Ijere Kingdom in Delta State, urged the peoole of Niger Delta to support the Federal Government’s security initiatives.
He said: “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.
“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.”
Tantita has invested in security work, encompassing a team of highly trained personnel, state-of-the-art technology and experienced leadership. Its mode of operations involves detecting and preventing oil theft and not merely running after thieves after doing their damage. It is also committed to reducing the environmental impact of oil pollution and degradation. This is also important to the host communities.
The Managing Director of Tantita Security Services, Keston Pondi, and Captain Warredi Enisuo, Executive Director of Operations and Technical, reiterated its commitment to combating oil theft and ensuring the protection of core resources.
Pondi said: “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.
“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.”
Echoing him, Enisuo said Ekpemupolo has a mission to accomplish in the Niger Delta and a total commitment to Nigeria. He said he has given a marching order to restore peace and decorum into a state of pandemonium.
He stressed: “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.”
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Dakuku Peterside, and Mike Ozekome (SAN) urged Tantita to sustain and intensify its efforts to further boost Nigeria’s daily crude oil production.
Oba Ogunwusi said:“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.”
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.”
Ozekome urged Ekpemupolo to secure the assets and increase oil production and make the coastal areas safer for business activities.
Tantita listed its achievements since 2022. It has secured over 1,200 kilometres of pipelines, dismantled 500 illegal bunkering sites, arrested and prosecuted 300 oil thieves and prevented an estimated 20 million barrels of oil from being stolen.
Its Head of Media and Publicity, Paul Bebenimibo, reiterated the company’s commitment to halting gaps and vulnerabilities in the oil and gas sector and rid unpatriotic bunkers of the region.
Read Also: Nigeria engages GEF on Niger Delta mangrove regeneration project
Enisuo thanked the NNPCL for its suport and cooperation. He also highlighted the burden of combating the vandals. He said: “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.”
To the Chairman of the House Committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Fred Agbedi, and Julius Pondi, Chairman of the House Committee on Environment, there is now a significant increase in crude oil output, due to the effective ‘policing’ by Tantita
Pondi said: “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.”
Agbedi pointed out that Tantita should have the opportunity to also watch both coastal and deep waters so that stealing of crude can stop.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, is happy about the progress made in oil earnings, following improved security in the Niger Delta.
He said: “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.”
A former Bayelsa Governor and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ecology and Climate Change, Seriake Dickson, applauded Tantita for combating pipeline vandalism and oil theft. He said the company has also mitigated their environmental impact.
Dickson said: “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.”
He added: “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.”
