The Nigerian Navy and Tantita Security Services, a firm run by Chief Government Ekpemupolo (alias Tompolo), set fire to an illegal oil bunkering vessel caught with stolen crude oil aboard in the Delta State town of Escravos last night.
The vessel and its seven crew members were apprehended last Thursday near Escravos in the state’s Warri South West Local Government Area.
Around 600 to 650 cubic metres of illegally lifted crude oil in five compartments was said to be on board the vessel with registration number L85 B9.50 at the time of arrest.
In the presence of journalists, the Nigerian Navy and Tantita Security Services personnel set fire to the ill-fated vessel around 3 p.m.
Chief Ebipade Kari, the Operational Head of Tantita Security Services Limited, who led the operation and announced the vessel’s arrest on Sunday before her destruction yesterday, confirmed that the interception was made after they received a tip-off.
“We received word that a ship was loading at the Escravos axis.” Tantita security personnel went to the location and arrested the ship.
“I insisted on taking the crew to Oporoza in Gbaramatu Kingdom, where Tantita’s operational office is located. Their boss begged me, via the captain of the ship, to accept a bribe of N25 million, which he promised to deliver in dollars so I could let the ship go. “However, I declined the offer,” he said.
Meanwhile, oil and gas host communities in the Niger Delta have called on Mr. Melee Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), to stop oil theft, name and prosecute those responsible or resign.
The communities lamented that rising oil theft had once again reduced the country to a pitiful state, reflecting a high corruption index.
In a statement issued yesterday, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Community Development Communities of Niger Delta Oil and Gas Producing Areas, Joseph Ambakederimo, stated that the exposure of the four-kilometer-long oil pipe theft was sufficient for Kyari to resign.
