The oil theft crisis that has greatly sabotaged Nigeria’s economy by drastically reducing revenue generation keeps unraveling. Illegal oil pipelines serving as conduit to oil thieves have been uncovered recently, yet more are unfolding.
During the week, Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, a private security company owned by famous Niger Delta ex-militia leader, Government Ekpemupolo aka Tompolo, which was contracted by the federal government of Nigeria to secure the pipelines, said it has discovered more massive illegal crude oil pipelines attached to Trans Forcados Export Trunkline.
Reports said the newly discovered illegal pipeline was connected to the 48-inch Trans Forcados Export Trunkline in Burutu Local Government Area. The discoveries are coming weeks after the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited disclosed that “a 4-kilometer pipeline from the Forcados export terminal has been used to steal oil for nine years, resulting in the theft of hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil per day.”
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The illegal four-kilometer crude oil pipeline, which is said to belong to Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), appears to have triggered the discovery of bigger points of stealing. The oil theft, which has reduced Nigeria’s oil production output by nearly half, is believed to have been aided by Nigerian security agents.
The newly discovered illegal plug point is reportedly located directly behind a military security post and it is less than a kilometer to the Forcados Export Terminal in Ogulagha community.
The report said the illegal pipeline was linked to another abandoned pipeline riser located within the vicinity and owned by AGIP Petroleum Company Ltd. According to the discovery, the oil thieves have been using the abandoned AGIP facility to ferry condensed crude oil to the sea for export.
Though the federal government’s decision to engage Tompolo’s Tantita Security Services in a multi-billion naira contract to secure the oil pipelines has been questioned, as he is believed to be part of the problem, it has been yielding unusual results.
Last week, the company apprehended a vessel named MT Deima with International Maritime Organization with number 7210525, while it was loading crude oil illegally along the Escravos River in Delta State. The arrested vessel was handed over to the security operatives under the Operation Delta Safe Joint Task Force, who didn’t spare more time before they set it ablaze.
The newly discovered point of stealing, the Forcados Terminal located in Ogulagha, Burutu Local Government Area, is the largest so far. It is said to have a nameplate capacity to export 400,000 barrels per day. It receives crude oil from the Forcados Oil Pipeline System, which is the second largest pipeline network in the oil-producing region, after the Bonny Oil Pipeline System in the Eastern Niger Delta.
His name is already Government, and he is governing the pipelines.
The fact remains that Peter Obi spoke, and invisible pipeline connections became discoverable.
The joke needs to stop, all of us were never condemned to be stupid for our entire existence here. It is a crime to insult some people’s intelligence with impunity.