Tompolo’s Security Company; Tantita Reveals How Crude Oil Thieves Mount CCTV Inside Bushes
Speaking at the maiden edition of the MARAN Annual Maritime Lecture (MAMAL 2023) organised by the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN) last week Wednesday, the Executive Director of Operations and Technical of Tantita, Capt Waredi Enisuoh revealed that crude oil thieves in the Niger Delta region have mounted CCTV cameras in the bushes, in order to warn them ahead of invasion by security operatives.
Capt Waredi, a former Director at Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) disclosed that Tantita has arrested and impounded a lot of such facilities and cameras.
He also revealed how Nigerian crude are stored in Sacks and transported in Keke NAPEP and trucks in order to beat security operatives, and they are sold across neighbouring States.
Meanwhile he revealed the functions of Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited to include protection of oil assets and maritime assets.
According to him, the staff strength of the company is 8,957,000 direct workers,
38,221,000 community youths and 21,981,000 intelligence agents.
While addressing the issue of Crude Oil Theft in Nigeria, he said “Most of the oil is locally refined from the Niger Delta, a vessel can bring 10,000tons from Europe and take 60,000tons from Niger Delta and falsify the documents, claiming it is from Europe.
“The transportation of stolen oil is done via ships and trucks, they use the trucks to transport it to neighbouring Cameroon, Niger Republic, Chad and so on, Nigerian oil goes everywhere.
The biggest Nigerians are usually concerned about is ships coming to steal the oil, but it is not only the ships that steal the oil.
“These oil thieves bridge the pipeline and pass the oil through bottom of a canal and arrange it back. It flows into illegal refineries.
This is not only a Niger Delta thing, it happens everywhere there is oil in Nigeria, from Imo State, to Akwa Ibom, Ondo and the rest.
“They sack the crude, they put them in bags, carry them to the waterside for sale.
You will be surprised how smart these people are, you will be walking but you can never know that under the ground, tiny pipes have been laid away from the areas.
“The business is not discriminatory at all, even Keke Napep carry the crude.
The business is also gender friendly, you will find women and children inside the bush working and contributing their share to the oil theft.
“There are so many people involved, and that is why so many people are against us.
The trucks look very benign, you will not suspect anything wrong with them, but when you open the back of the trucks, you will see crude oils in bags.
“As we are apprehending them, they are also changing their game, there is an international ring sponsoring them.
The design of the trucks are altered, outwards it looks like a truck, but inside, it is a tank.
“If you go to the Niger Delta, at every kilometer, there is a road block, but how does these trucks get passed these road blocks?
“We have chased them from the fields, not they are targeting the wellheads, they connect very long hoses to these wellheads and fetch the crude.
The crude is transported under house foundations, and inside the house is where they fetch the oil directly into trucks and so on.
We have thousands of points like that.
“What they do is that first, they come to Lagos to collect all the right documentation to load oil. They will not take six number plates, get approval for one number, and they forge five with same number, all the trucks have same documentation with same number on all the trucks.
“They have CCTV Mounted inside the bush, this gives them advance warning that you are coming, so that they can prepare for your arrival.
We have recovered quite a lot of CCTV cameras inside the bush” Waredi stated
