By Rita Enemuru, Reporting
NIGER DELTA activist and leader of defunct Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Chief Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, has revealed that the real perpetrators of oil theft in the Niger Delta are cronies from Abuja and Lagos.
He said his surveillance security outfit would do its best to prove to President Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPC) that the work was given to the right people.
Stonix News reports that the NNPCL awarded the pipeline security surveillance contract to the Tantita Security Services Ltd (TSSL) owned by Tompolo late August to stem the tide of crude oil theft, pipeline vandalism and illegal artisanal refineries dotting the creeks of the Niger Delta.
Speaking to Channels Television’s Olu Philips, Tompolo disclosed that besides locals involved in menial stealing of crude oil to refine and degrade the environment, top brass of the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, Nigeria Police Force, Nigerian Security and Defence Corps, are all complicit in the illegality.
He vowed to release a comprehensive list of the security eggheads involved in oil thieving in the region if they would not co-operate with his team to stop all illegality in the region.
Read excerpts of the chilly interview:
“We don’t have any other place to call our country than the Nigeria that we have. We can always work together as a people and we have done this before in Lagos.
“By the time we put heads together to protect our natural asset.
“In every country, the maritime sector actually controls the nation economy.
“Everybody has free access to load crude oil and go out without proper monitoring.
“Under normal circumstances, it is the duty of NIMASA, NPA to regulate. Even if the local people happen to tamper with the lines, they would capitalize on that to steal the crude oil from the country.
“If we are not careful before 2023, there would be no money to run the country.
“When you are coming from Warri, you will see security house boats all over the place.
“If you have one gunboat and another houseboat, the extreme end is where the real bunkering is taking place.
“Though we are from the riverine areas and the owners of these places, so there’s no way you can come in except maybe with Paul (his media aide).
“What we are saying is that, even at the security level, we have top security men that are deeply involved that are trying to bring down this country.
“So, we are ready and we are appealing to everyone that, we need to do everything within our power to put an end to it.
“In some areas, there are illegal bunkering camps owned by some Navy, Army, Civil Defence and Police and we have the evidence. It is only the SS that have not been mentioned yet.
“So, we want to use this medium to appeal to the security agencies, especially the good ones, to talk to their people that are being deployed to this part of the country.
“Let’s work together, we don’t have anything to implement the law, we have the intelligence and they are the ones to implement. So, we need their cooperation.
“A lot of them were not happy when my name was mentioned because I actually know the in and out of this country.
“If we are working together as a team by the grace of God, in another few weeks, you would see that the conversion will now shoot up.
“From the beginning, everybody knows my position. When I see that my people are oppressed, I will always come out to say the truth.
“I love this country and I will do everything within my powers to protect it.
“The level at which this illegal bunkering is destroying our environment with fire is worrisome and we want to do everything we can about it.
“It has come to a point where a lot of people are seeing this illegal activity as their right.
“Before you came in, we were in a meeting with some of the women who are doing business from the illegal bunkering and we told them that we will provide jobs for them that they should stop.
“Some of the security personnel are sincere and are ready to work with us but many of them are involved in this illegal bunkering.
“There’s no way you can load a vessel without settling the security agents that are within that area.
“We are letting these security men know that what is happening is wrong.
“Schools have been on strike for some months now because there’s no money. It’s only few people that can afford to send their children to private schools or abroad.
“If we have the cooperation from the security agents, we don’t have any problem; three to four weeks time, we are going to restore the production back to the way it was before.
“A lot of people are now running helter skelter because they know that there’s nothing in this country concerning the riverine areas that I don’t know.
“We are brothers and friends to the people in Imo. So once we discussed and agreed, it’s now left for the security people to call their people to order.
“If they don’t, then I have no choice but to expose the comprehensive list of the people involved.
“We are ready and we want our fare share and it’s only when the assets are protected that we can get it especially now that they are working on the PIA. If there’s no production, how do we get our 13 per cent?
“All our communities from here to Rivers State, to Akwa Ibom are ready to work but our problem is the security agents; not all of them but some very key players are involved in this illegal bunkering.
“If anybody wants to try to spoil the name of our region to enrich himself, we are going to bring them out.
“We are appealing to the security agencies here to appeal to their Ogas in Lagos and Abuja that enough is enough.
“It is even these security people that are inciting our people to violence. Because we know ourselves and understand ourselves. We have been surviving without this work.
“Some of these oil companies are even capitalising on these illegal things to declare what is not even right and that is why the fight is tough.
“We are doing all of these things to save our country from collapsing; if we don’t salvage it, those people campaigning up and down won’t see any money to run this country next year.
“Then they would want to shift the blame on us meanwhile, the real perpetrators are there in Abuja.
“So, I will always stand with my people to defend the interest of our people. We are going to do our best so that our president and NNPC will see that the work was given to the right people.”
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