Sequel to the recent discovery of major tapping points on the Trans-Forcados/Ramos Pipeline in Delta State, by operatives of Tantita Security Services Limited, the surveillance outfit of ex-militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo Nigerians have been enraged.
The discovery revealed a network of pipelines through which International Oil Companies, security officials, oil bunkerers, and locals have colluded to bleed the country, over the years.
Ipledge2nigeria learned that security officials counted 16 breaches on the pipeline operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, at Yokri community and environs in Delta state.
The pipeline runs from Otumara and ends at Forcados Terminal, but oil thieves, oil companies, and security officials had been siphoning crude oil from the line for a long time.

According to Barrister Famakinwa, Uk-Based Legal Luminary, this has been going on for ages. The Navy is very under-resourced to cope with what should be its forte-national maritime security. The Navy has failed woefully in this respect. Now the country has resorted to giving pipeline security contracts to reformed criminals. It is now ‘poacher turned gamekeeper. I am not convinced about the veracity of the claim that Tompolo’s security company discovered a boat stealing crude oil last week. For all, we know it may be that the boat did not pay royalties to Tompolos men. And the boat was ‘fingered’ by the authorities. He has earned his multi-million Naira fee.”

Reacting to the ugly development, Frank Oshanugor, Editor-in-Chief AtlanticNewsonline and Certified Protection Officer states that this is a further confirmation of how deep Nigeria has fallen to corruption and economic sabotage.  I may be wrong, but if a diligent investigation is carried into the illegality, we may discover that those aiding and abetting the oil theft are highly placed government officials and their criminal collaborators in the oil industry.” “Stealing oil through functional pipelines is a not pedestrian venture.  It takes guts, official connection and some nocturnal relationships that the chicken-hearted cannot go into. I would therefore advise the Federal Government not to take the discovery with a pinch of salt but a display of some concerted effort towards identifying,  apprehending and prosecuting those behind the economic sabotage.”

Speaking on the discovery Oluwatoyin Ndidi Taiwo-Ojo, a Legal practitioner says It is almost laughable that such news should be coming up at this time especially with the general elections being a few months away.

President Buhari has been the Minister for Petroleum for 8 years now, he has also been in command of all the military and security agencies in the country as the Commander in Chief and yet these kinds of plundering of our common patrimony were going on under his watch.

It took the Tompolo contract to identify that an oil tanker ship, with a length of some 330 metres (1,100 feet), has capacities between 200,000 and 320,000 dwt. They carry in the area of two million barrels. This is not like looking for the proverbial needle in the hay, this is as conspicuous as the whole farmhouse itself, not just the hay. This is enough to have PMB impeached if we were in saner crimes but as always in this country emotion always overrules Logic and tribal/ religious sentiments overrule patriotism.”

“Worrisome also is that the Nigerian Navy has been in territorial waters of this country since 1960 and I cannot recall them ever intercepting any illegal vessel until Tompolo was given this contract of securing our oil pipelines and within a year he is already delivering on his mandate. Is the FG saying that an individual is more resourceful and intelligent than the entire Naval force? 

“It is also scary that the FG doesn’t understand the implications of an individual being responsible for the nation’s pipeline which is akin to being responsible for national security. At this juncture, the government should investigate the Nigerian Navy and its security activities also the owners of the tanker should be arrested if they are Nigerians or they should be extradited to Nigeria from their countries of origin to answer to this gargantuan economic crimes.”

Larne Odukoya, a Public Relations strategist, says the atrocity at this scale has heinous consequences and I think many would just hastily conclude it is hunger-motivated. He explained that the impact of bad fuel on the environment is fatal; it accounts for the disturbing number of deaths and terminal diseases. The loss of revenue to this mindless theft is even more ruinous. When a gang of thieves don’t let you sleep. Don’t contract security to their head, as the Government did to Government Tompolo- simply identify the centres of crime, and dialogue with the locals, they will recommend who to hire from the gangs. From each community, engage their head and outsource security contracts to them. There will be relative peace because that way, wealth trickles down and they don’t feel impoverished either by foreigners or by one of their own.”
Meanwhile, 

Shell Plc’s Nigerian unit said it is investigating whether an illegal pipeline carried stolen crude to one of the company’s offshore platforms, as authorities in the West African country have alleged.

Mele Kyari, Chief Executive Officer of the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Co., said last week a “coordinated security intervention” had uncovered an illegal connection attaching Shell’s Trans-Escravos pipeline to a test line running more than four kilometers out to sea to another facility operated by the oil major.