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Why Tantita should continue with surveillance in Niger Delta

A group, the Niger Delta Development Agenda, has said that stakeholders in the region are satisfied with oil pipeline surveillance and protection by Tantita Security Services Limited.

The group objected to the move by an ex-agitator from Ondo State to scuttle the renewed surveillance contract with Tantita, despite its accomplishments in surveillance and security on land and sea.

Decrying the ulterior motive behind the cancellation of Tantita’s contract, the group said Tantita succeeded in creating an international oil cartel that smuggled stolen crude oil out of the country to waiting buyers, who stormed the Ondo creeks with big ocean-going vessels.

In a statement by its chairman, Chief Ezekiel Ugedi, Secretary, Efemena Ejomafuvwe, and Publicity Secretary, Orighomisan Ezekiel, the group said Tantita has succeeded where the ex-Ondo agitator failed.

According to the statement, Tantita is trying to spread sanity to Bayelsa and Rivers, hence the uproar from the collaborating abettors, who mouth directives from their sponsors.

It added: “Tantita destruction of illegal crude refining camps that dotted the landscape of Rivers State is responsible for the clearance of the smug from the atmosphere in the state.

“Almost all communities were involved in the illegal crude business. They were financed by the big oil thieves. Hence, it was easy for the culprits to evade arrest.

“The oil thieves also enjoyed the support of a handful of law enforcement agents; they gave them protection and never brought them to book.

“The same oil cartels also tried to use host communities by sponsoring protests on their behalf, as was the case in Koko, Delta State.

“Some renegades in the Koko community recently took to the streets in support of the nefarious activities of a notorious local oil baron operating in the community.

“The cartel offered large sums of money to the community to agitate and fight dirty on their behalf.

“The cacophonies coming from Bayelsa and Rivers are a ruse to divert attention from the illegal refineries that still operate in parts of both states.

They want Tantita operations restrained from those states.”

The group said Tantita would completely clean the Aegean stables in those states, adding that sanity has to be restored to increase crude production and boost the nation’s oil revenue so that the government can finance infrastructure and meet her commitment to the people.

It stated: “In the course of its activities, Tantita unmasked the identities of most operators responsible for crude theft and offered them an olive branch to refrain from the illegality, but they remain recalcitrant and are bent on continuing.

“This is because when it comes to doing something legal, the profit is not as good as that of the illegal business.

“There is no surveillance contract that would be given to them that is going to make them stop the theft and pipeline vandalism. Even if given, they will collect the contract and still continue the illegal business.

“They cannot be pacified; the benefits from the international syndicates outweigh what the Nigerian government can offer.

“At every moment, big ships and ocean liners are anchored and positioned in the Atlantic Ocean, awaiting supplies from them.

“These national saboteurs are not in the least ready for any cooperation with the Federal Government. They are too neck-deep in illicit profiteering to care about national interests.

To kill a dangerous serpent, its head must be dealt a blow to paralyse it.

“The next phase of Tantita Security Services Limited is to interdict, intercept, and apprehend the culprits in their illegal activities.”

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