In what looks like a game of the hunter being hunted, Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited (TSSNL), owned by former militant leader, Government Ekpemukpolo popular as Tompolo, and his agents, are accused of aiding and abetting oil theft in the Niger Delta region thereby shortchanging the Federal Government that entrusted the pipeline surveillance contract in its care, thereby eliciting agitations for the decentralization of the contract as other oil producing states of the region, which feel excluded in the juicy project, canvass inclusion
By Edu Abade
There has arisen controversy, and agitations lately, against the credibility of Tatita Security Services Nigeria Limited (TSSNL) to continue to secure oil pipelines in the Niger Delta and across the country. Although some persons have argued that the company has been doing well and should be allowed to continue its ‘good work’, many Niger Delta indigens from across the six states of the region, are agitating for the decentralization of the oil pipeline surveillance contract, insisting that the TSSNL and its agents have veered off its core mandate, and are allegedly involved in aiding and abetting the stealing of millions of barrels of crude oil. Hence, the agitators are calling on President Bola Tinubu to either terminate the TSSNL contract or decentralize it to avoid counter productivity.
The Niger Delta agitators said, giving the stupendous amount of money involved in the contract, that TSSNL’s influence in the pipeline surveillance business has become too broad and therefore, the role should be decentralized to accommodate other states and interested companies in the Niger Delta region.
Prominent among the agitating groups is the Niger Delta Coalition that demanded a decentralization of the TSSNL’s contract. President-General of the Coalition of Niger Delta Ethnic Nationalities, Dr. Alaye Tari Theophilus, maintained that decentralization of the pipeline surveillance contract will act as a deterrent to crude oil theft.
Speaking last week on Arise Television’s ‘Morning Show’, Theophilus said, “You can’t ask people to stop artisanal refining when surveillance is monopolized. Illegal vessels load products from platforms because surveillance is monopolized with no checks.
“The companies that have been engaged by the NNPC is what we are talking about, the pipeline infrastructure. The Tantita and the Marton are the three major companies that have been engaged. Every other company in question is a subcontractor to maybe pipeline infrastructure, because the Marton and the Tantita, they didn’t even submit the proposals for their contracts.
“But what we are saying is that the pipeline surveillance contract is as a result of the agitation of the Niger Delta people, and you cannot say that people should stop boat fire business, while you are now being monopolized with the sovereign job. So, decentralization of pipeline surveillance contract will act as a deterrent to crude oil theft,” Theophilus said.
Again, Niger Delta youths, under the aegis of Niger Delta Centre for Justice and Accountability (NDCJA), have called for immediate termination of the pipeline surveillance contracts.
The youths also distanced themselves from recent comments by former Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), Worldwide President Udengs Eradiri, who defended the pipeline surveillance contract being handled by TSSNL.
NDCJA, in a statement released by its Executive Director, Comrade Efe Justice, on Tuesday, March 10, 2026 described Eradiri’s position as self-serving propaganda designed to protect personal and vested interests.
The youths insisted that Eradiri does not speak for the Niger Delta people, noting that his views represent a narrow, self-interested perspective that overlooks the widespread suffering, economic sabotage and ongoing plunder of national resources that continue to afflict communities across the region.
The statement read, “We have no affiliation whatsoever with Udengs Eradiri or the views he expressed in his recent interview. We distance ourselves completely from his assertions and reject the notion that critics of the Tantita contract are ‘enemies of Nigeria.’
“Such inflammatory language is a tired tactic used by those who benefit from the status quo to silence legitimate demands for accountability.”
The NDCJA berated Eradiri for allegedly acting as an apologist for what it described as a failed arrangement that continues to bleed the nation dry.
“Eradiri’s praise for Tantita ignores hard realities. Oil theft remains rampant, costing Nigeria up to $15 billion annually—hundreds of thousands of barrels per day disappearing into criminal networks.
“Recent discoveries of major illegal bunkering hubs, including in Abia State in early 2026, prove that the current model has not neutralised the threat.
“Criminals adapt, shift operations, and exploit gaps while the contract drains ₦48 billion of public money every year. If this is what Eradiri calls ‘success’ and ‘peace,’ then we are dealing with a dangerous delusion,” the statement added.
The youths observed that the pipeline surveillance contract has not eradicated oil theft but merely shifted its patterns. According to them, production gains are as a result of broader efforts, rather than the efforts of any singular entity.
They equally claimed that so-called thousands of jobs generated from the pipeline surveillance contract “often remain unevenly distributed, temporary, or tied to patronage networks, leaving widespread youth unemployment and community grievances unaddressed”.
To achieve lasting security and equitable benefits for the Niger Delta, NDCJA called for the complete decentralization of pipeline surveillance contracts.
The youths said decentralization would involve awarding separate, competitive contracts to different reputable companies in each oil-producing state, based on transparent bidding processes, verifiable track records in security and community engagement, and strict performance metrics.
They argued that such an approach would foster greater local inclusion, reduce the risks of favoritism or monopolistic control, and encourage innovation in surveillance techniques across diverse terrains and communities.
According to them, “Decentralization is not fragmentation but smart, inclusive security. By engaging multiple competent firms per state—selected through open, merit-based processes—we can ensure broader stakeholder participation, better intelligence gathering from host communities, and stronger deterrence against theft and vandalism.
“This model aligns with true federalism, promotes fiscal responsibility, and prevents any single entity from holding disproportionate influence over national assets.
“President Tinubu and well-meaning Nigerians should ask Eradiri if there are no competent people in Bayelsa, where he is from, to handle pipeline surveillance contract for the state.”
The Niger Delta youths urged President Tinubu to conduct independent audit of existing contracts before any renewal or extension.
In the same vein, leaders and members of Urhobo Youth Leaders Association (UYLA), have called on President Tinubu to decentralize the pipelines surveillance contract.
UYLA threatened that if the pipelines surveillance contract is not decentralised and Urhobo not given its fair share, they can no longer guarantee the flow of oil to the Forcados Terminal.
The Urhobo Youth Leaders Association in a statement signed by its President, Olorogun Samuel Oghotomo and secretary, Chief Augustine Atiti, stated that Urhobo is a major oil and gas producing ethnic nationality in the Niger Delta region.
While saying it will make Urhobo people and other tribes in the Niger Delta region to have a sense of belonging, it explained in the statement that Urhobo plays host to the biggest gas plant in West Africa, host to Oil Mining Leases (OMLs) 34, 30, 32, 64,28, 38, 41 and many others being operated by several multinational oil companies in Nigeria.
According to the statement, “The crude oil produced in most parts of Urhobo land are being transported through pipelines to Forcados Terminal in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State, making it look as if it’s only Ijaw that produces what goes to the terminal.”
UYLA lamented that despite the billions of dollars spent by the Federal Government on the war against crude oil theft, including TSSNL’s multi-million-dollar pipelines surveillance contract, there had been no significant increase in the volume of crude oil sales, rather it keeps plummeting in many areas due to inadequate engagement of personnel from host communities for proper policing of the facilities.
“When the late Capt. Idahosa Wells Okunbo, fondly called Capt. Hosa handled the Pipeline Surveillance contract, he decentralized it in such a way that all the ethnic groups in the Niger Delta region have sub-contracts and were well carried along.
“It was after his death that the former Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva and the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, Mele Kyari, allegedly conspired with Chief Government Oweizide Ekpemupolo (AKA Tompolo) to sideline other ethnic nationalities in the Niger Delta region, using the misleading propaganda of their war against crude oil theft and pipeline surveillance contracts as yardstick.
“The APC government politicized the surveillance contract and the security of oil facilities along the party line and used it as a means of vote buying. Now that elections are over, we will resist it, if the Tinubu led federal government renews or re-wards the surveillance contract to Tompolo through Tantita Security Services without decentralizing it among the oil producing ethnic nationalities in the Niger Delta region.
“In the expired pipeline surveillance contract, awarded to Tantita Security Services, the critical stakeholders and the ex- agitators of Urhobo ethnic nationality were not carried along, but this time, if the surveillance contract is not awarded along ethnic line, the Urhobo youths leaders will resist it with every means available to frustrate the production and transportation of crude oil from Urhoboland to the Forcados terminal”, it reiterated.
As a matter of grave concern, on December 10, 2025, the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy arrested and seized a Nigerian-owned supertanker Skipper (IMO 9304667) near Venezuela over an alleged involvement in crude oil theft, piracy and drug trafficking. The 20-year-old vessel, linked to Nigerian-based Thomarose Global Ventures Limited, was flying a false Guyanese flag. It was reported to have carried 1.9 million barrels of stolen Nigeria’s crude.
As it is typical of United States President Donald Trump, details of the seized tanker were released as part of a crackdown on international maritime crimes, with Trump announcing the action.
The details further revealed that the Skipper is a Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) managed by Thomarose Global Ventures (listed as inactive in Nigeria) and registered to Triton Navigation Corp in the Marshall Islands.
Beyond stealing Nigeria’s crude, investigators are probing the vessel for transporting hard drugs and connections to Iranian/Islamist-backed money laundering networks, while the seizure took place off the coast of Venezuela reports indicated that the ship was carrying a significant amount of heavy crude.
“The operation highlights intensified U.S. efforts to curb illegal oil trade in the Gulf of Guinea and surrounding regions. The United States says it has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela over alleged crude oil theft, piracy and other transnational crimes. MarineTraffic lists Nigeria-based Thomarose Global Ventures Limited as operator of the vessel, and Marshall Islands–based Triton Navigation Corp as the registered owner. US President Donald Trump described the vessel as “the largest ever seized.” On December 12, 2025, Trump described the vessel as “the largest ever seized”.
Following the development, Tentacle recalled that the Federal Government renewed a multi-million dollar pipeline surveillance contract with a former leader and Commander of the defunct Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Tompolo.
It was also learnt that the government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited signed the deal with Tompolo to end illegal bunkering, refining and other forms of crude oil theft in the Niger Delta region.
Speaking in confidence, a source close to Tompolo, said the deal was worth over N4 billion monthly, amounting to a whopping N48 billion yearly and over N192 billion or more since 2022 when the contract was entered under former President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
The source said the former MEND Commander, known for his creek intelligence and credibility, will monitor and oversee other surveillance contracts, contractors and their activities in the Niger Delta region. He said it was a similar role Tompolo played during former President Goodluck Jonathan when Diezani Alison Madueke was Minister of Petroleum.
“The government merely reviewed and restored his old contract. Before the cancellation of his contract, the arrangement he put in place tackled illegal bunkering and increased production output and quota to over two million barrels of oil per day.
“But the new government cancelled the contract, declared him wanted and he was later exonerated of all wrongdoings. They have realized the need to bring him back because currently, the country is losing over 500,000 barrels of crude oil per day to illegal bunkering,” he stated.
Unfortunately for Tompolo, the 1.9 million barrels of Nigeria’s crude intercepted in faraway US last December has allegedly been traced to oil thieves who received cover from TSSNL. The brouhaha generated by the interception has elicited the agitation in all the states of the Niger Delta for the decentralization of the contract. Notably, the agitators are threatening that pipeline vandalization and crude oil theft would become a common occurrence in the entire region if the Federal Government fails to listen to their calls.
