CRUDE OIL THEFT: FG hails Tompolo’s Tantita on improved security as Lokpobiri, Ribadu, Kyari, others visit Niger Delta
President Bola Tinubu on Saturday dispatched a high-powered delegation for stakeholders’ engagement and on-the-spot assessment of the progress of the war on crude oil theft.
The delegation was led by the the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu comprising of the Ministers of State for Defence; Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil); Minister of Defence, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Permanent Secretary Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Air Staff, representative of the Chief Army Staff, Commander Operation Delta Safe, representative of the DG DSS, and SA to the President on Energy.
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The team from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, led by the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mallam Mele Kyari, the Executive Vice President Upstream, Engr. Adokiye Tombomieye, and the Chief Upstream Investment Officer, Mr. Bala Wunti were also part of the delegation.
During the visit to Niger Delta, the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, expressed gratitude to the management of Tantita Security Services Limited for their efforts in pipeline protection in the Niger Delta region.
Lokpobiri said the President Bola Tinubu-led administration is determined to stop all forms of pipeline vandalism and oil theft in the country.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, addresses the media after inspecting illegal facilities in Delta state on Saturday, August 26, 2023.
Lokpobiri said, “We’re here because of the problem of pipeline vandalisation and illegal bunkering that is going on in the Niger Delta.
“I believe that it has become an existential problem and we need to fight them. We need to fight these criminals to submission.
“What is happening here is so bad that we cannot even know the implications unless maybe when people start dying in their numbers that is when people will know that a few persons were profiting from this crime are here to wipe all of them out.
“So, as a responsible government, we have decided that we are going to put a stop to it.
“We are going to work with stakeholders to ensure that we stop all this nonsense in our society. We are not going to allow them.
“I want to also use the opportunity to express our gratitude to Tantita that has been commissioned by the NNPCL to be able to do some work but we are going to do a lot more.”
On his part, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, said the Federal Government would sustain its partnership with Tantita Security Services Limited, to curb the crime of pipeline vandalism and oil theft in the Niger Delta.
He added that the Federal Government will soon take additional measures to ensure that things change for the better in pipeline security.
Ribadu said, “We have done very well to get to where we are now. We are certainly going to take more measures. So far, things are beginning to change. Give us little time and you will see things change for the better.”
See photos below:
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