VANGUARD
CRUDE oil bunkerers have revealed that some Nigerian military personnel who are supposed to stop oil bunkering organize and consolidate their business in the creek for huge sums of money. They said that they paid various levies to establish their crude oil refining camps and get security protection.
In addition, security personnel passed information to them whenever other security agencies plot to raid their locations. The personnel reportedly have a record of illegal oil bunkerers in their good book, so they shield their camps from destruction. Also, some of the unauthorized refining camps belong to some retired and serving military personnel, who hire skilled artisans and locals to work for them.
Security personnel harmonize our business —Fumilayo, ex-oil bunkerer
A former oil bunkerer in the Burutu area of Delta State, Fumilayo, told Saturday Vanguard: “It is the Navy personnel who coordinated our business. They are involved from the time you want to build your camp. We pay them money while moving our construction equipment to the site. We pay for every ‘Contonou’ boat of crude oil; we also pay them when we are going to sell our products. We pay for police escorts. We normally supply all the telecommunications masts in different locations. If you do not settle, they will burn your camp. They give us information when other security people plan to destroy camps. But we usually settle them very well. I have stopped the business because the Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited (TSSNL), operated by ex-militant leader, High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, came and destroyed our camp,” he said.
In Edo, armed personnel escort oil thieves at midnight
In Edo State, our investigation showed a heavy connivance with security agencies in the smuggling of petroleum products but the reinvigorated efforts of Tantita have caused a significant reduction. Armed military personnel escort oil thieves to smuggle petroleum products through a high-profile oil palm plantation used as a smokescreen.
A former worker of an oil-thieving firm said, “This act was to avoid being detected as they moved the truckloads of petroleum products through the routes that crisscross the oil-palm plantation so that an unsuspecting person seeing them will think it is oil palm from the plantation. This operation was mostly carried out after negotiation, including coercion, between the military officers and my company’s security head, who will then instruct the guards on duty to allow passage.”
Our investigation indicated that the Gelegele–Ofunama axis is another notorious smuggling route in the state. Oil bunkerers carry mostly diesel in drums, huge jerricans, and special nylons. They move the products between 1 am and 3 am. Sometimes, they compromise the local security (vigilante) in their routes to move their stolen products.
To steal, you settle service commanders — Ex-agitator
An ex-agitator in Akwa-Ibom State who shared an insider observation, experiences, and encounters told Saturday Vanguard in Uyo: “There are two basic levels to oil theft in the operating space. In the shallow swamp fields, some people tap into wells or flow lines and siphon crude into sizable large wooden boats that feed illegal refineries that spread through the coastal line. Mbo locality is a major hub in Akwa Ibom. On the larger scale, the big players from Lagos and Abuja load into large vessels from the terminal line in the deep waters. These vessels are mainly for import, some to field refineries in neighboring African countries, and others go beyond the continent.
“The key actors may differ, but the security operatives are a constant. In my time, I was in the swamp field and collected crude to feed local refineries and some industries that fire their machines with hydrocarbons. Though the creeks provide cover, the business is not as hidden as the security operatives make it seem. They know fields and lines that are prone to theft. The storage boats are not only too large to be hidden; they also pass through the open rivers to distribute to the illegal refineries.
“Around the target assets, wells, and pipelines to break into, military personnel are positioned in houseboats or camps on the river route. To have the freedom to steal and move about, you have to settle the service commanders controlling rivers and camps of the security agents—be they Joint Task Force, JTF, Navy, or Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC.
“Then, when you settle the ‘ogas,’ they clear you to tap in and siphon. The next settlement is that the security camps become toll points. As you ferry the crude-laden wooden boat to sell to artisanal refineries, you settle every JTF or naval checkpoint you pass on the rivers. After settling the service commanders, one could pay over N100,000 toll. Most locals who cook the crude oil do not pay for what we supply; other financiers, including retail owners, pay for the crude in the illegal refineries.
“Much of the diesel ‘cooked’ finds its way to filling stations and is sold as though imported. Those who steal in vessels around loading platforms settle from Abuja. I was not on that level.”
Community, security moles divulge information –Brador
Nimi Brador (not real name for security reasons), a former supervisor at an illegal refining camp in the deep swamp of Rivers and Bayelsa enclave, who had retired from the business, said spies from the local communities and security agencies tipped them off when troops were coming for attack.
The young man, a computer engineer in his late thirties, who managed a camp for three years for his uncle, said he opted out of the swamp to live a normal life because of the many dangers associated with the business. He said, “The business is a dangerous venture and we were constantly on the lookout for the military. Even before they got to the open creek and river we were tipped off by our spies in the communities and friends within the security circle. Some security personnel, serving and retired, owned some of these camps.”
Security agencies conspire with oil bunkerers — Tantita operative
“We received information recently that oil thieves were loading crude into tankers from a barge on the Ovwian River in Delta State,” said a senior TSSNL official, confirming findings that some security personnel allegedly work with oil bunkerers.
“Our men went with security operatives to apprehend them and seized the barge when they reached there, but officials from the Warri command of a national security agency came in many gunboats and ordered our men to leave. Before we knew it, they started shooting indiscriminately, and the scuffle lasted for almost an hour. They took the barge away.
“Similarly in Rivers State, our operatives arrested oil bunkerers and wanted to take samples; officials from the same security agency came and started shooting our people, and some were wounded. They said they gave them papers to load. They are not happy with what we (Tantita) are doing because it is spoiling their business; this is why they always confront our people whenever we make any arrest,” he added.
TSSNL has largely checkmated bunkerers — Stakeholders
The chairman of the Gelegele community and former secretary of the Ijaw Youth Council, western zone, Omagbomi Olu-Derimo, and other stakeholders confirmed that the TSSNL has seriously checked the menace of petroleum products smugglers in the area.
According to him, “Since the coming of the Tantita, crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism have been curtailed. The efforts of the security outfit are already paying off. For now, as far as I know, the issue of illegal oil bunkering is almost eliminated; that is the situation of things over here. Before now, there has been a collaboration between illegal bunkerers, smugglers, and security agencies, but things have changed drastically; even to see pockets of these things happening is very difficult. TSSNL has done much; they cover the forests and the waterways, like in my area, and taking things through that area is very difficult. In fact, for the past six to eight months, I have not seen any illegal bunkering activity in our axis.”
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