Group writes IGP, urges him to avoid compromise on probe into alleged vessels seizures claim

A Niger Delta group, the Movement for the Sustainable Development of the Niger Delta (MSDND) has written to the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun not to allow any form of compromise capable of derailing the investigation into its petition against the private security company known as Tantita Security Services Limited on alleged cases of crude oil vessels seizures along the waterways of the region.

According to the group, while the Nigerian Police has said those allegedly arrested on the vessels seized by the private security company known as Tantita Security Services Limited will face charges including conspiracy, tampering with oil pipelines, illegal transportation of crude oil, dealing in crude, and storing crude without lawful authority or appropriate licences.

The group, MSDND, through its Publicity Secretary, Kelvin Orughoe, argued that the issues raised in its petitions to the Police IG, the Nigerian Navy, Minister of Defence, the NSA office and to the Director General of the State Security Services should be properly investigated to avoid bias and deceit.

The Publicity Secretary of the Group in a statement on Tuesday, argued that the group and stakeholders across the region disagrees with the claims made on the reported scene of arrest of the suspects in “Ogbogoro oil field, near Brass and Ekeni in Southern Ijaw areas of Bayelsa state.”

According to the group, “Despite the sudden and clandestine attempts by the private security company known as Tantita Security Services Limited to label Bayelsa State as the hot bed for illegal crude oil theft, the names being dropped as spots where the vessels were arrested are incorrect and showed a desperate attempt of propaganda and grandstanding.

“The Police IG and every Nigerian should conduct a simple fact check of the location of Ogbogoro oil field using google map where Tantita claimed to have seized one of the Vessels. There is no such place as Ogbogoro oil field, it does not exist, it is not an oil location in Bayelsa state or Brass LGA. Ogbogoro is the name of a community in Obio-Akpo LGA in Rivers State, its an upland area which has no oil field.

“Another community called Ogbogoro is in Yenagoa LGA of Bayelsa state, an upland area which has zero oil field, so how come they don’t know where they allegedly caught the vessels? It’s all a blatant lie and made-up for media propaganda to deceive Nigerians.

“Also, the Ekeni area in Southern Ijaw, there are no oil fields around and it is located close to a heavily secured area where there are three Nigeria Navy gunboats and other security personnel patrolling the entire area. How would such alleged loading of stolen crude oil take place? All we ask is for a detailed investigation on the claims of the private security company and the allegations raised in our petition before the security agencies.

“We want to make it emphatically clear that our group and stakeholders across the region will continue to expose every lie being propagated by Tantita Security Services Limited in their bid to mislead the federal government into awarding their company the Bayelsa Central Corridor of the proposed multi-million dollars crude oil pipeline surveillance contract.

“Remember that the private security company started by claiming that they arrested the said vessel at Sokebolou oil field in Bayelsa state. But after our group faulted their report in the media and knowing that they have been caught in a blatant lie, they changed the location of the MT Kali’s arrest to Pelleghton in Bayelsa claiming that it was at the offshore location of the Anglo-Dutch energy giant, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in Bayelsa State.

“Our investigations, which can be easily verified, revealed that the Nigerian Navy has over three large gunboats (Natsha II, Vakpor II, and Vakpor III) all stationed around Pelleghton securing the entire area against crude oil theft and illegal movement of vessels, and we can confirm that Shell (SPDC) does not have an operational station in Pelleghton; thus, they lied again to the public.

“They have once again changed the location of the vessel’s arrest to Ogbogoro oil field which does not also exist. They started with Sokebolou oil field, then to Pelleghton, and now to Ogbogoro oil field, which is it?

“While we support every genuine move to eradicate crude oil theft and protect our nation’s resources, we will not support desperate individuals using their private company to spread propaganda against the state and security agencies along the Bayelsa corridor in order to score political and media points in their bid to win over the Bayelsa Central Corridor of the proposed multi-million dollars crude oil pipeline surveillance contract.

“May we remind Nigerians that from August of 2022 when the multi-million dollars pipeline surveillance contract was initially awarded to Tantita Security Services Limited to August 2023, they never caught any vessel along the Bayelsa central corridor, almost all the vessels they claimed to have caught stealing crude oil were in Delta state within Tompolo’s territory.

“Why is it that all of a sudden Tantita started the seizures of multiple vessels along the Bayelsa central corridor waterways? This is because they want to deceive the federal government in awarding the Bayelsa central corridor of the proposed multi-million dollars crude oil pipeline surveillance contract.

It would be recalled that MSDND had in a petition dated February, 13, 2024 alleged that the impounding activities along the waterways of the Niger Delta is meant defraud the Nigerian public, including frivolous claims of complicity of security agencies in crude oil theft which is capable of causing chaos and breaching the national and economic security of the country.

The MSDND, in their petition, noted that while Nigerians and the world were allegedly deceived by media propaganda and made to believed that the private security company Tantita Security Services Limited had in the past few weeks seized two vessels allegedly involved in crude oil theft off Bayelsa waters, they claimed that the vessels were allegedly lured in, and entrapped by officials of the private security company to score political and media points in their bid to win over the Bayelsa Central Corridor of the proposed multi-million dollars crude oil pipeline surveillance contract.