Tompolo accuses Navy of aiding oil thieves

Former Niger Delta militant leader and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Tantita Security Services Limited, Government Ekpemupolo, known as Tompolo, has alleged that the Nigerian Navy is aiding and abetting oil theft in the region.

He disclosed that naval personnel had severally shot at his men, Department of State Service (DSS) officials and men of the Nigeria Security and Defence Corps (NSCDC) while performing pipeline surveillance duties.

The shocking revelation is coming on the heels of Nigeria’s increased crude oil output to 1.8 million barrels per day,  He condemned the Navy for preventing the interception of a vessel allegedly used in oil theft in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, recently, and decried the faceoff between the Navy and Tantita.

Tompolo spoke when the national executive of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), led by their President, Afam Osigwe, made a fact-finding visit to Oporoza, headquarters of Gbaramatu Kingdom in Delta State on issues surrounding oil theft and problems faced by oil-producing communities in the Niger Delta.

Tompolo said the task of protecting oil pipelines had made him step on the toes of oil theft barons, appealing to Nigerians, including security agencies to support President Bola Tinubu’s effort towards improving Nigeria’s economy by ending the crime.

He warned that Nigeria may become an economic wreck if the sponsors of oil theft continue to have their way, and solicited the support of the NBA, with regards to defending arrested suspects.

He said: “What we want is for you to support the President and Tantita Security Services because, while doing this work, we are actually stepping on a lot of toes who are the big boys over there in Lagos and Abuja. Most times, you see that Tantita Security now have confrontations with the Nigerian Navy and all that.  

“Every well-meaning Nigerian knows the function of the Nigerian Navy and Tantita now, but nobody wants to come out to say the truth. If we happen to arrest anybody now, we would have to get a lawyer from Abuja, Lagos or Ibadan to do the case very well.”