The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd has renewed a multi-million dollar pipeline surveillance contract to a former militant leader and Commander of the defunct Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), Government Ekpemupolo, aka Tompolo.
It was gathered that the government and the NNPC signed the deal with Tompolo to end illegal bunkering, illegal refining and other forms of oil theft in the Niger-Delta region.
A source close to Tompolo, who spoke in confidence, said the deal was worth over N4billion monthly. However, the figure and details of the contract could not be immediately confirmed officially as of press time. The source said the former MEND commander, known for his creek credibility, will monitor and oversee other surveillance contracts, contractors and their activities in the entire Niger-Delta. According to him, it was a similar role Tompolo played during the former administration of President Goodluck Jonathan when Diezani Alison-Madueke was the Minister of Petroleum.
The source said the new deal was brokered by the Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva and some NNPC top officials, including the Group Executive Director, Upstream, Adokiye Tombomelye. He added that the NNPC as a new profit-making venture was determined to curb all illegal activities affecting its operations and making it run at a loss every month.
The source further said Tompolo held a crucial stakeholders’ meeting on Wednesday in his Oporoza country home, in the Gbaramatu Kingdom, Delta State, adding that a mammoth crowd of stakeholders from the Niger-Delta, especially Bayelsa State, as well as leaders of all youth groups, heads of notorious cult groups in the region among others, turned up for the meeting. According to him, the number in attendance was over 5,000.
A former IYC President, Udengs Eradiri, who confirmed attending the meeting, described the new arrangement as a welcomed development. He said it was heart-warming that the Federal Government has involved communities in the protection of pipelines crisscrossing their domains.
Similarly, a former IYC President and spokesman, Eric Omare, said the Federal Government reviewed a similar arrangement that existed during Jonathan’s era and expanded the scope of Tompolo. He said the resort to a community-based approach remained the best way of curbing illegal bunkering and refining of oil in the region.
A priest of Egbesu, Apostle Bodmas Kemepadei, also confirmed the deal, saying already some illegal bunkering operators were holding consultations with Tompolo to surrender their illegality. “We believe that in the coming days more people will come out and the issue of oil theft will be tackled. It may not be completely eradicated, but Tompolo will achieve 95 percent”, he assured.
