The former militant leader of the defunct Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), Government Oweizide Ekpemupolo, also known as Tompolo, was awarded an N48 billion a year contract by the Nigerian government in August 2022, to protect crude oil pipelines in the Niger Delta region.  

Tompolo had a previous contract with the Goodluck Jonathan administration. 

In September, Tompolo told the press during a media briefing in Gbaramatu kingdom, Delta State, that he is committed to fighting against illegal bunkering. He went further to state that all stakeholders need to work together to protect pipelines in some parts of Edo, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, and Rivers states. 

It seems this contract has borne fruits as Tompolo has uncovered several illegal crude oil lines in Delta and Bayelsa states.  

Nairametrics had earlier reported that the Nigeran National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited, is clamping down on illegal operations in the Niger Delta region. The latest joint effort by the NNPCL and security efforts was the October 9 destruction of a sea barge allegedly involved in crude oil theft in the region.  

Tompolo’s method 

Tompolo owns a security outfit called Tantita Security Services Limited. The outfit is a full-time security services company, based in Delta State. The outfit, which was incorporated as a business as far back as 2005, is committed to putting an end to crude oil theft, illegal refining, and oil bunkering in the Niger Delta region, under Tompolo’s direction.  

During an October 10 interception of an illegal oil bunkering vessel with stolen crude oil aboard Niger Delta creeks, Tantita’s Marine intelligence consultant, Captain Warredi Enisuoh, told the press that the arrest was a result of intelligence gathering through satellite monitoring.  

On October 6, Tantita arrested the seven-man crew in an oil bunkering vessel (registration number L85 B9.50) on the creeks of Escravos. The vessel had about 600 to 650 cubic meters of illegally lifted crude oil in five compartments.  

For the purpose of providing some insight into the reasons behind the localization of pipeline protection in Nigeria, it is good to understand how two of Nigeria’s neighboring countries protect their pipelines.  

Chad – Cameroon pipeline 

The Chad-Cameroon pipeline is a US$3.5 billion development of an oil field in Chad by a consortium headed by ExxonMobil, and a 1,070 km long pipeline extending through Chad and Cameroon to the Atlantic coast, constructed and operated by the Tchad Oil Transportation Company (TOTCO) and the Cameroon Oil Transportation Company (COTCO). 

The Chad-Cameroon pipeline was completed in 2003 and it extends 660 miles from the oilfields in southern Chad to a Floating, Storage and Offloading (FSO) vessel located seven miles offshore Kribi, Cameroon, in the Gulf of Guinea. Construction on the central treating facilities in Chad was completed by the start of 2004.  

From the developmental phase of the Chad-Cameroon pipeline project, the operator, sponsors, and major lenders as well as stakeholders in both countries, monitor the work on the ground. The project funders also recruited an external compliance monitoring group to give independent monitoring. Both countries also agreed to invite civil society and international non-governmental organizations to carry out independent monitoring of the project. With this open-door policy, it became easy to set the foundation for independent monitoring, even before the project was completed.   

What you should know 

• On completion, COTCO installed thousands of brightly painted concrete pillars at key points along the pipeline route in Cameroon to demarcate the boundary between the right of way (ROW) and privately owned properties or land used by villages.  
• For many years TOTCO and COTCO have trained and employed local villagers on a rotating basis to conduct foot patrols along the right of way (ROW) to identify any issues with the pipeline, its 1,070-kilometer ROW or the fiber optic communications cable that is buried next to the pipeline. Foot patrollers work for six months at a time before new patrollers are chosen using a lottery system, which ensures fair distribution of jobs. 
• In 2016, the project operators began engaging locally formed organizations (LFOs) set up by communities located near the pipeline to carry out foot patrols, cut grass close to the pipeline, and place boundary indicators to protect the pipeline.  
• In 2017, the Cameroon Oil Transportation Company in charge of managing the Chad-Cameroon pipeline recorded a sterling performance in relation to safety, security, health and environmental concerns.