Why NNPCL burn vessel wey dem catch with illegal crude oil for Delta

Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) and some Security Agencies on Monday destroy one of di biggest oil vessels dem arrest with crude oil wey dem allegedly tiff from Escravos Pipeline for Delta State, Southern Nigeria. Dem arrest di vessel, MT Deinmo, with IMO number 7210526, last week for di Niger Delta creeks with seven crew members on board. Operatives of one private Security outfit Tantita security wey dey owned by ex-militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, (alias Tompolo) wey di NNPCL dey use do pipeline surveillance, naim catch di vessel wey bin dey loaded with di stolen crude oil. Dem catch dem as dem dey pump di crude directly from di Escravos Pipeline into dia vessel for Warri South West LGA, Delta state and dem don hand over di arrested crew members to di Joint Task Force JTF for 3 Battalion Nigerian Army, Effurun near Warri. Na around 2pm on Monday dem set di vessel on fire in di presence of di Group General Manager of di National Petroleum Investments Management Services (NAPIMS), Bala Wunti. Before dem burn di vessel, di Marine Intelligence Consultant to Tantita Security Services, di private security firm, Warredi Enisuoh, say dem don dey investigate di vessel for a long time now. E say di vessel wey dey 87 metres long, with six cargo hole tanks wey get 12 compartments no dey designed as an ocean-going vessel, but na river vessel wey dem convert to dey use for ocean for illegal operation. Enisuoh say, "wetin happen be say di vessel dey among di lists of vessels wey dey under serious monitoring. Dem bin dey dodge authorities for a while now and dia route dey very funny. Dem dey waka di Niger- Delta for a very long time now and at di same time dey carry crude illegally to Ghana, precisely Tema. Dat na di place dem dey normally go for discharge.” Security agencies lay ambush for di vessel Enisuoh add say di ambush wey security agencies lay for di vessel get success on October 6 and dem arrest di captain and crew members on di spot wia dem bin dey pump crude oil into dia vessels. “We lay ambush for dis particular vessel and dem fall inside on 6 October. Wetin happen be say dem come to load and bring di vessel from Escravos side of di creeks but dem no know say we dey wait for dem. We allow dem to connect di hoses from di Escravos-Abiteye pipeline and from dia, dem start to pump di crude into di vessel so we take dem by surprise. “Di line na major line wey dey go to di Chevron Terminal. Actually, di vessel get about five compartments wey dem don store di crude oil with a total quantity of about 650 cubic metres of crude oil naim we find inside wey dey separated into several compartments because they no finish di operation before di Security arrest dem. Dem no go di Chevron Terminal to load but dem go illegally into di creek (bush) wia dem criminally connect dia hose to begin pump crude from di pipeline into dia vessel." Who be di pipo dem arrest? Enisuoh say so far, na seven of di crew members dem arrest and all of dem na Nigerians by dia names and dem dey carry di crude dey go Tema Port for Ghana. E say di captain of di crew claim say some hijackers wey don escape bin dem hijack dem, but by di documents for di vessel don prove say no be true. “Di captain say im join dis ship two and half months ago, but records from di ship show say Nigerian authorities bin don arrest dis vessel back in September 2021 and di documents also show say dem hand over and later release am and im bin be di captain on board at dat time. “Di captain claim say dis na di first time im dey on dis ship. If na so and dem arrest dis ship with am onboard for September 2021, then im don dey with di ship for more than a year.” Operational head of Tantita security, Ebipade Kari wey lead di team to arrest di vessel say dem get tipo of say di vessel dey load crude for di Escravos axis and na dia we go arrest dem. “I insist say I go take di crew go Oporiza for Gbaramatu Kingdom wia our headquarters dey but dia boss beg me through di captain of di ship to offer me bribe of N25million wey im promise to deliver in dollars so I go let di ship go but I no gree, I refuse di offer.” Why dem set di vessel on fire? Group General Manager of the National Petroleum Investments Management Services, Bala Wunti explain say dem strictly follow di rule of engagement to carry out di exercise. Wunti say if dem no destroy di vessel, those wey dey operate am go continue to find a way to use such illegal operations as a platform to sabotage Nigeria economy. “If we no destroy those vessels, dem go destroy Nigeria. So na decision we gatz do. We must deal with anytin wey touch Nigeria security in line with di rule of engagement so, di rule of engagement dey quite clear”. How crude oil theft dey affect Nigerian economy Di matter of crude oil theft na one ogbonge challenge wey dey worry di Nigeria economy as dat na di main revenue earner for di kontri wey dem even dey use plan di annual national budget. Crude oil theft don reduce di production capacity wey di Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries OPEC give Nigeria, wey also don negatively affect di revenue of di kontri. Dis join with di bad effect e get on environmental pollution wey be say now most of di aquatic life don spoil finish and many rivers for di Niger Delta don spoil finish. Bala Wunti, di NAPIMS oga explain say dis naim make di Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd, Mele Kyari, to set up dis industry-wide security architecture wey get four thematic angles. “I don dey dis industry for over 27 years and I fit tell you say I never see anytin like dis. Di situation don force evri player to work togeda join bodi. For example, today, one of di contractors, Tantita Security Service, don make dis arrest. Before now we no get dis one, we bin dey operate for silo but now dat silo don break. Now we dey deploy technology at all levels. We get a command and control centre wey dey help us to see all di activities wey dey happen. We dey carry out detection, we witness di resistance and we respond quickly through our incident response reporting portal and security agencies dey able to respond quickly togeda with di private security contractors to arrest wateva dey happen.” E tok. Wunti add say dis architecture wey dem don set up, dem plan say e go begin yield results in 90 days but under 40 days dem don record dis kain of result so dem dey hopeful say di kontri go soon begin see big increase in oil production. “We don already dey see signs. Some of di numbers wey Chevron and some oda operators dey produce don dey increase. We believe say Nigerians go feel sign of relief on this.” Na so Wunti tok. Di Deep Blue project wey dey fight oil theft for Nigeria One ogbonge platform wey di Nigerian Goment don put in place to fight oil theft for di kontri na di Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure, wey also dey known as di Deep Blue Project. Na for 10 June 2021, Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari launch am for Lagos. Before di launch, di Maritime Security Unit (MSU) of di Deep Blue Project, wey include personnel from di Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air Force, Nigeria Police, and Department of State Services, conduct simulation exercises on land, air, and sea assets of di Project to confirm say dem dey readi for full deployment and di various military formations for di region bin dey aware of di exercise. According to Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh, di deployment of di assets of di Deep Blue Project, make di kontri to enter anoda level of national security wey dey designed for di whole of di maritime security and e go improve domain awareness using some of di latest technology. “Dis effort to secure our waters go give Nigerians more advantage to use di plenti resources we get for our maritime environment and help us as we dey drive towards economic diversification.” E tok. Di Project, wey di Federal Ministry of Transportation and Federal Ministry of Defence, start dey implemented by NIMASA. Di main objective of di Deep Blue Project na to secure Nigerian waters up to di Gulf of Guinea and e get three categories of platforms to tackle maritime security on land, sea, and air. Di land assets include di Command, Control, Communication, Computer, and Intelligence Centre (C4i) for intelligence gathering and data collection; 16 armoured vehicles for coastal patrol; and 600 specially trained troops for interdiction, wey dey known as Maritime Security Unit. Di sea assets include two Special Mission Vessels and 17 Fast Interceptor Boats. Di air assets comprise two Special Mission Aircraft for surveillance of di kontri Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ); three Special Mission Helicopters for search and rescue operations; and four Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Di Deep Blue Project na di first integrated maritime security strategy for West and Central Africa wey get di aim to fight piracy, sea robbery, and oda crimes at sea. Even though prosecution of suspected criminals used to be a challenge, di Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offenses (SPOMO) Act wey di 9th National Assembly pass dey provide legal backing for prosecution and punishment of offenders.