Crude Oil Theft: We Have Loaded Tonnes Of Crude Oil Before Arrest—- Suspect…Those Fighting Private Security Providers Are Criminals, Enemies Of Our Nation— TANTITA
3 min read
By Pearl Harold
The Captain of the Vessel, MT Kali, that was impounded over crude oil theft in Bayelsa State on Thursday, David Adeboye, has disclosed that 119 tonnes of crude oil have been siphoned into the vessel before they ran out of luck.
Adeboye and the engineer attached to the vessel, Promise Eze, were paraded before newsmen, on Sunday.
Our Correspondent reports that selected journalists were at Oporoza, Headquarters of Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta state, on Sunday , on a fact-finding mission where the vessel was anchored.
Our Correspondent further reports that the police were scrutinising relevant documents in the vessel and profiling the crew during the visit.
Findings revealed that the vessel was arrested by a combined team of personnel of a private surveillance security provider, Tantita Security Services Limited (TSSL), operated by a former militant commander in the Niger Delta, Chief Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo and men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) at Pennington oil field, belonging to Anglo-Dutch energy giant, Shell Petroleum Development Company(SPDC) in Bayelsa state.
The Captain of the Vessel alleged that his boss, whom he refused to name, lured the crew into the illicit deal on the pretense that they were heading for Bayelsa state to load Automative Gas Oil (AGO), popularly known as diesel.
According to Adeboye; “When we set out from Lagos, 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 for like 10 miles and thereafter if we are satisfied that it can go as far as Bayelsa state, then we should proceed
to Bayelsa state to bring AGO (diesel) to Lagos.
“That was the instruction given to us.
So when I got there (Pennington oil field) , I dropped the anchor and spoke with the agent. So, at what point AGO now turned to crude oil, that was what I am still battling with up till now.
“Currently, we have 119 tonnes of crude inside the vessel.”
He claimed that due to poor network in the areas, he could not contact his boss that the agent was loading crude oil instead of AGO into the vessel.
The Executive Director of TSSL, Captain Warriedi Enisuoh, who was on ground to conduct newsmen round the impounded vessel, disclosed that his company had been on the trail of the vessel over a long time.
According to him, the vessel was notoriously involved in crude oil theft in the country over time, saying that the discovery led to the decision of his organisation to track it.
He rained heavy knocks on those opposed to the inclusion of private security providers in oil pipelines surveillance.
In a veiled response to the outbursts by Bayelsa state Governor, Senator Douye Diri, who canvassed that the Nigerian Navy be solely responsible for the security of the nation’s maritime oil and gas assets, Captain Enisuoh described those opposed to the involvement of private security firms in pipelines surveillance as “oil bunkerers.”
While commending the security agencies, especially NSCDC for the synergy with TSSL to end the menace of crude oil theft, Captain Enisuoh said, “We want to seize this opportunity to let Nigerians know that those campaigning against the private security companies in participating in this fight are oil bunkerers.
“Take it from here that I said so. 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.”
