Abuja, Nigeria – Nigeria authorities have uncovered 42 more tapping points of the country’s crude oil by bunkers which has plunged the economy of the Africa most populous nation. The discoveries were made in the oil rich Niger Delta States of Delta and Bayelsa, which brings the total of oil tapping points to 58 as at, yesterday,
The breakthrough, however, came as bunkers, angry with the leader of the defunct Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo for exposing their unlawful business in the past few weeks after his Tantita Security Services Limited (TSSL) was awarded billion dollars surveillance contract of the country oil facilities.
Tompolo, who spoke to newsmen said yesterday said, “As of today (Sunday), we have discovered over 58 points tapping points that oil bunkers have used in stealing crude oil from the nation’s pipelines in Delta and Bayelsa states.
“In Delta, three major crude pipelines, including the trans-Escravos and Trans-Ramos lines have been tapped by oil bunkers.
“The tapping points that were traced on Friday were with the help of the Nigerian security, which was why inside the rain and everything, we could trace the lines.
“We are doing the work together with the security agents; we are only providing intelligence for the security to assist to do the work. Therefore, everybody, NNPCL, and security agencies are working together in a very good spirit now.
“Now, the military has helped us to discover and stop the people from doing illegal activities, so we are going to work together and we do not want to go into details. The stealing had been going on for over eight to nine years”, he said.
On the threats to him and his boys, he asserted, “As for threat messages, that is normal, even this morning, they sent messages to me, but I think it is something we can handle.”
The ex-militant leader expressed optimism that they would soon curtail illegal oil bunkering in the Niger Delta.
“With the way we are going now, we are getting cooperation from all the security agencies, both the ones in the state here and at the top. Therefore, by the grace of God, in no distant time, we will stop this largely”, he assured.
Tantita also, last Thursday, seized a vessel suspected to belong to an oil syndicate, which came to load crude oil from an undisclosed location in Delta state.
At the time the Chief of Defense Staff, General Lucky Irabor, and the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), Engr. Mele Kyari, visited Delta state, last Friday, Tantita reported the discovery of 16 tapping points on the Trans-Forcados pipeline, which NNPCL had clamped.
Tompolo said his company was not facing any major challenge, adding, “At a very point in time, we will always provide the intelligence and security people will come and do the work”.
On the barricading of creeks by oil bunkers with trees, he said: “That is the more reason we are involved, if we see any creek that is blocked with trees, we will bring in motor-saw people to cut it and we go inside.
Where the security people cannot even go, we will first go there and ask them to follow because we cannot do anything with the security people. In addition, with the way all of them are actually cooperating, we will achieve the desired result.
“The communities are not posing a problem, it is the bunkers that offer resistance but even at that, like what I said before, this is our area, we are doing everything to ensure that we reduce oil bunkering to the barest minimum because the aquatic life in our area is almost gone.
“The crude oil that we recover from the creek, we are trying to get a barge where we will pump in the product, along the line, if any sink, we will not follow that because the terrain is bad. However, we will do everything within our power to stop further destruction and pollution,” he said.
Tompolo asserted: “There is no creek that anybody will pass in the region that I will not understand or the people working with me will not know. For now, we do not have any problem.
‘’Our major problem is that the aquatic life of the people is gone and we are doing everything together with traditional rulers, security agencies, Department of State Services, DSS, and all that to ensure that we reduce it to the barest minimum so that our people can survive’’.
Admitting that pipeline surveillance “is stressful,” he said, there was no problem with the communities and he did not envisage that oil bunkers would not yield to his appeal to stop oil bunkering.
He said, “Before this time, I have been discussing with oil bunkers, whether from Rivers or Bayelsa, all over the place. Even many of them actually understand that oil bunkering is not a good thing for our environment.
“And that this the more reason we think there will not be much problem for us to stop it, but their complaint is that there are no other means of survival”.
On the scarcity of kerosene, he said, “We are going to appeal to Federal Government and NNPCL to see what they can do about the local refinery, but you cannot fight illegality with illegality”.
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