Leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta [MEND] Mr. Government Ekpemupolo has revealed that oil thieves in the Niger Delta operate as many as 58 illegal crude oil tapping sites in the region.
Ekpemupolo also known as Tompolo, whose company, Tantita Security Services Ltd, early in the year got a federal government monthly contract worth N4.5billion to dislodge the reigning, massive oil theft and pipeline vandalism, which loss accounts for over 600,000 barrels per day.
At a press briefing at Oporoza, Gbaramatu kingdom in Delta state last Sunday, Tompolo confirmed that the 58 illegal crude oil tapping sites had been effectively dislodged
The revelation from the former militant group leader comes barely one week after the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited, said that a 4kilometer, illegal pipeline leading from Shell’s Forcados export terminal out into the sea had been discovered.
Also Read: N/Delta: Tompolo Security Discovers 16 Illegal Tapped Points in Trans-Escravos Oil Pipeline
It will be recalled that Forcados, Bonny, and Brass oil terminals, three operating facilities, were all shut down as a result of the alarming rate of crude oil theft, which results in the loss of around 600,000 barrels per day.
Providing an insight into the preliminary report from the current onslaught against oil thieves, the group chief executive officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company [NNPC] Ltd, Mr. Mele Kyari, stated that security operatives have deactivated 395 illegal refineries, and destroyed 274 reservoirs.
He also said 1,561 metal tanks were destroyed and 49 trucks were seized. He explained that the NNPC had to go into partnership with Tompolo because “the NNPCL regards Tompolo as an asset in its war against oil theft.”
Kyari said there will be an investigation that will go through the entire length of the chain to establish those behind crude oil theft, and how long it has been, among several other issues. According to them, the level of what is going on is beyond the ordinary
Also Read: Nigeria’s Oil Exports Hit Record Low, Amidst Lingering Massive Oil Theft
Observers note that for an oil vessel to come into the shores of the country, load crude oil for a number of days, and leave safely, permission has to be granted on both occasions.
“Who allowed those vessels to come into and out of the country? So far, we have seen statements from the NNPCL, referencing the illegal tapping as being professionally done,”
It is being speculated that the illegal tapping may not have been done by poor, local thieves or host communities.
Kyari had said that from experience, the culprits “are professionals, and that the tapping was professionally done, probably backed by personalities with the funds to bankroll such illegal projects.”
Oil theft in Nigeria, though perennial, got worse in the last ten years as perpetrators engaged the illicit trade with impunity.
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