Tag: Oil Theft

Crude Oil Theft: Armed gangs engage in mini-war with Tompolo’s security men in over pipeline contract

Aminu Imam

Tantita Security Services Limited who have exposed illegal pipelines being used for crude oil theft in some parts of the Niger-Delta have come under attack from gunmen desperate to sustain the illegal activities. The aide, who identified himself as Waterway Crayfish, quoted Tompolo as saying those bombarding him and his household with threat messages over the surveillance job he secured from the Federal Government are saboteurs, who, according to him, would continue to have his security outfit to contend with. He said the discovery of an illegal oil pipeline that…

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Crude oil theft fuelling unemployment – FG

Aminu Imam

Crude oil theft has been identified by the Federal Government as the primary cause of the nation’s deteriorating unemployment rate. According to an issued press statement by the ministry, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige, stated this while speaking at the 8th meeting of the National Employment Council in Abuja. According to the Minister, the problem has impeded the Federal Government’s ability to provide jobs for the nation’s teeming young population. Ngige, who is the chairman of the council, lamented that oil theft has made Nigeria to…

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Crude oil theft: Ship, 26 suspects risk life imprisonment – FG

Aminu Imam

The Federal Government said the ‘rogue’ vessel that entered the nation’s maritime environment on August 7 “without any form of authorisation” and 26 other suspects are standing trial before a Federal High Court in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, and risk life imprisonment upon conviction. A very large crude oil carrier (VLCC) known as MT Heroic Idun was reported to have entered the “Total Safe Anchorage operated (by) Akpo Field”, in breach of existing maritime laws and conventions. According to the Nigerian Navy, the vessel with overall length of 336-metres has the…

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Oil Exports Shipping Slump: ‘Ex-militant Tompolo and team saving Nigeria’s economy’

Aminu Imam

The huge albatross around the Nigerian economy as a result of the monumental challenge of the long-running crude oil theft may presently have been slowed down, courtesy of the effort of the Tompolo team. This is courtesy of ‘The Tompolo strategy’, a rugged private guards security initiative that sees the ex-Niger-Delta militant, Government Ekpemupolo, aka Tompolo, along with his associates spread across the Niger Delta region, manning and executing pipeline surveillance measures and preventing oil theft. Since the pipeline surveillance contract of N48billion was awarded to Tompolo, to ensure the…

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Maritime Security: FG arraigns 26 foreign crew of vessel arrested with Nigeria’s stolen crude

Aminu Imam

The Federal Government has arraigned the crew of the Very Large Crude Carrier, (VLCC), MT Heroic Idun, suspected of being involved in oil theft in Nigeria. Following their arrest, the ship’s 26 man crew, made up of Indian, Sri Lankan, Filipino, Brazilian, and Polish nationals were arraigned at the Federal High court in Port Harcourt the Rivers State capital on Monday. Prosecuting on behalf of the Federal Government, the Ministry of Defence arraigned the crew on a three-count charge bordering on false pretence, attempted crude oil theft, and piracy among…

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Crude Oil theft: CNPP, CSOs urge Buhari to sack Kyari, others

Aminu Imam

Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) and Coalition of the National Civil Society Organisations (CNCSOs) have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, over ineptitude in handling the affairs of the company and oil theft. According to them, Kyari has continued to justify positions held on the management team of the old and new NNPC. Convener of the coalition and CNPP’s Secretary General, Chief Willy Ezugwu, and the National Secretary of CNCSOs, Ali Abacha,…

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“Don’t blame NNPC for smuggling of petroleum” – Mele Kyari

Aminu Imam

Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari, has attributed the high rate of product smuggling across the border to petroleum subsidies. Speaking at a summit hosted by the House of Representatives Committee on Anti-Corruption, Kyari asserted that smuggling and round-tripping would continue as long as subsidies existed. He stated that NNPC Limited cannot be held accountable for the matter. According to him, “As long as arbitrage is there, you will continue to have these issues and you cannot hold NNPC accountable for it, because…

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Maritime Security Alert: Crude Oil thieves shut down vessel identification system to avoid detection – NPA MD 

Aminu Imam

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) says oil thieves usually turn off the Automatic Identification System (AIS) of vessels to avoid detection.  The AIS is an automatic tracking system that uses transceivers on ships and is used by vessel traffic services. According to the NPA Managing Director, Mohammed Bello-Koko, who spoke yesterday at a press briefing at the State House in Abuja, it is common for persons conducting illegal activities on Nigerian waterways to turn off the AIS. Speaking on the vessel recently arrested with stolen crude close to the Escravos…

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Crude oil theft: NNPCL, Shell to face lawsuit over new illegal pipeline discovered in Delta

Aminu Imam

A civil Society organisation (CSO), the Oil Spill Victims Initiative, (OSPIVV), has threatened to sue the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, (NNPCL), and Shell Petroleum Development Company, (SPDC), over the illegal pipeline connections used to siphon the country’s crude oil. The CSO revealed that the illegal pipeline connected to the trunk line through an abandoned pipeline by the Nigerians Agip Oil Company Limited (NAOCL), and linked to a location in the high sea, where they load crude oil into vessels and sell overseas. A new illegal pipeline has been discovered…

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Crude Oil Thefts: “We have no record of ships working on Nigerian oil fields” – NIMASA

Aminu Imam

In the face of on-going bursts on crude oil thefts and illegal activities taking place in Nigerian oil fields, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, (NIMASA), has said that it has no record or access to the ships coming into the oil fields through the International Oil Companies (IOCs). Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari recently approved the hiring of former Niger Delta warlord, Chief Government Tompolo, and his security company, Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited to check crude oil theft in the Niger Delta. The security outfit has so…

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