Tanita Security Services Nigeria Limited, a private security contractor affiliated with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), reportedly intercepted a vessel carrying approximately 119 barrels of suspected stolen crude oil in Bayelsa State. The operation took place in the Ekeni Sea, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, within the Niger Delta region of the country.
The intercepted vessel, identified as MT KALI with IMO N0. 8782800, was apprehended around 12:25 am on Thursday and had a crew of 12 members along with 13 community workers. Currently held at the Tantita Operational Base in Oporoza, Gbaramatu Kingdom of Delta State, the vessel was intercepted by Tanita Security Services Nigeria Limited (TSSNL), a private security company associated with ex-militant leader Government Ekpemupolo, known as Tompolo. TSSNL was engaged by the NNPCL to secure oil pipelines in the Niger Delta region and combat oil vandals.
The engagement of TSSNL during the former President Muhammadu Buhari administration had been a subject of controversy, but the security company has since made several arrests and seizures of vessels involved in crude oil theft.
As of November 2023, the Nigerian government reported that over N4.3 trillion worth of crude oil had been stolen in 7,143 pipeline vandalism cases within a five-year period. The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) described oil theft and losses in Nigeria as a national emergency. NEITI’s Executive Secretary, Ogbonnaya Orji, emphasized that oil theft posed a serious threat to oil exploration and exploitation, with significant negative consequences on economic growth, business prospects, and profit earnings for oil companies.
