The war by Nigeria’s federal government against crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism has recorded another major success as Tantita Security Services, operated by the ex-leader of the defunct MEND, Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, has uncovered another illegal pipeline used by oil thieves to siphon crude oil for export in Delta State.
This latest development is coming barely one week after the security firm discovered the illegal four-kilometre crude oil pipeline connected from Forcados terminal to the sea, which had been in operation for nine years.
In the latest discovery, a pipeline measuring one kilometre to the shore and another four kilometres to the loading bay, which was abandoned by ExxonMobil at Ogulagha in Burutu Local Government Area of the state was allegedly reconnected by the oil thieves to load stolen crude oil into export tankers.
Speaking to journalists on the discovery on Saturday, the Marine Intelligence Consultant to Tantita Security Services Limited, Captain Warredi Enisuo said the illegal pipeline was connected to the 48-inch Trans Forcados Export Trunkline.
Enisuo also conducted the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s General Manager in charge of the Gas Development Division, Mr. Buduwara Zakariya, who represented the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Limited, Kyari and other officials around the scene of the incident.
