The management of Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, a Federal Government-contracted oil pipeline surveillance firm, has accused the Nigerian Navy of shielding some suspected oil thieves being pursued by its personnel.
It alleged that the Navy arrested four of its personnel chasing the suspects on the high seas towards a naval base.
This was contained in a statement issued by Tantita management and made available to journalists in Warri, Delta State on Saturday on the heels of the purported arrest of four surveillance personnel of the firm by the Navy earlier in the week.
In a press release credited to the Commander, NNS BEECROFT, Commodore Kolawole Olumide Oguntuga on 31st August, the Nigerian Navy stated that the Navy arrested four Tantita personnel for alleged crude oil theft.
But the Tantita management, while declaring the Nigerian Navy’s statement as “a tragicomedy of errors” insisted that it was nothing but a smear campaign.
The statement reads, “The Navy has been sharing pictures in social media of the Tantita staff in their custody in various shades of undress but kept silent about the names of the boat crew whom they were chasing. In short, where is the crew that the Tantita personnel chased into Ibeju Lekki?”, Tantita queried.
Tantita maintained that the arrest for four days and parade of its staff by the Nigerian Navy as common criminals should “be deprecated by all right thinking members of society, at a time when our nation is in dire straits with the unparalleled loss of revenue from a monocultural export-based economy”.
“These family men put their lives at risk for the good of the nation and are now being made to suffer ridicule for doing the right thing. It serves to demoralise good men everywhere who have sought and are seeking to do something to better our nation”, the firm stated.
It noted that “As soon as these men were arrested, the management of Tantita reached out to the Nigerian Navy seeking clarification of the situation. For four days, the Navy said they were investigating and that the men would be released”.
Tantita claimed to have already gotten the outcome of the Navy’s investigation on the incident saying “there are even more damning revelations, which out of courtesy to the Navy hierarchy and the needs of national security we will not divulge on the pages of a newspaper”.
The firm however stated that “the continued detention by the Nigerian Navy of these five brave, selfless Nigerians who risked their lives on the high seas to protect our commonwealth is a disservice to our nation”.
Tantita’s press statement read partly “On Monday, the 28th of August, 2023 at about 0130hours, one of the company’s patrol teams operating in the Ondo State area received credible intelligence that a motorised wooden boat was illegally loading crude oil from an Offshore Oil Well Jacket, the same Well Jacket in OML 110 operated by Cavendish Petroleum Nigeria Limited, where the MT TURA II was caught stealing Crude Oil a few months ago.
“Based on the intelligence, an advance team was dispatched to find the wooden boat while a back up team consisting of Nigeria Civil Defence and Security Corps component of the Government Security Agencies was assembled to follow through on the lead.
“While we cannot name the NSCDC personnel for obvious reasons, they were six in number and our personnel were eight not four in number.
“The advance team with the help of local fisherfolk was able to determine that the motorised wooden boat was heading in the direction of Lagos and gave hot pursuit.
“Upon noticing the approaching Tantita teams the crew of the motorised wooden boat abandoned the wooden boat for their speed boat. One team of Tantita and NSCDC personnel boarded the wooden boat to secure the evidence while another team gave hot pursuit.
“There is video evidence of the Tantita team together with NSCDC personnel coming alongside the wooden boat, boarding and attempting to secure the boat.
“There is also evidence of the Tantita and GSA team giving chase to the crew of the boat. How then did the Nigerian Navy get involved in this operation?
“The video also shows the Tantita crew trying to secure the wooden boat which was taking in water (this could have resulted from an attempt to scuttle the boat by the escaping crew; anyone who understands Yoruba can listen in on the conversations).
The statement added, “Surprisingly the escaping crew of the motorised wooden boat fled in the direction of the Nigerian Navy Forward Operation Base at Ibeju-Lekki, so the Tantita and NSCDC personnel followed in hot pursuit believing that the criminals would meet their Waterloo there. They were wrong. Instead of the fleeing crew being arrested, it was the Tantita personnel who came down to apprehend the fleeing crew that was arrested. After arresting Tantita personnel and freeing the crew, the Nigerian Navy personnel then went to the motorised wooden boat and drove out the combined Tantita/GSA team trying to keep the boat and the evidence afloat.
“The Nigerian Navy press release was nothing but a smear campaign, the Navy has been sharing pictures in social media of the Tantita staff in their custody in various shades of undress but kept silent about the names of the boat crew whom they were chasing? In short, where is the crew that the Tantita personnel chased into Ibeju Lekki?
“Most importantly, where is the boat now? You can clearly see the boat in the video provided below. Did the Nigerian Navy secure the boat? Can the Nigerian Navy explain the whereabouts of the motorised wooden boat? They were the last seen with the boat.
“Nigerians can see why we are forced to say that the Nigerian Navy’s press release was nothing but a smear campaign against Tantita and possibly a cover up. Is it possible that the Nigerian Navy deploys costly assets in these days of expensive petrol/diesel to respond communal distress calls involving commercial disputes as to ownership of outboard engines? Again, let us assume for the sake of argument that the distress call was with respect to shooting in Itolou community in Lekki area of Lagos State, what became of that investigation? Can the Navy tell the nation, after four days of investigation, who was shooting?
“The time frames here are important. Tantita patrol team took off at 0130hrs (1:30 at night) on Monday 28th August 2023, and spotted the wooden boat at approximately 1400hours (2 in the afternoon) same Monday 28th August 2023 and were arrested by the Navy a few hours later on Monday 28th of August 2023. Why then did the Navy press release say it arrested Tantita personnel on Tuesday 29th August 2023? Why is the Navy saying it arrested 4 persons when in fact it arrested 5?
“The Nigerian Navy is quite good at publicising videos of their personnel boarding vessels suspected of conveying illicit crude and refined products. Where is the Navy’s video of boarding this wooden boat and arresting the Tantita personnel?
“How do you arrest oil thieves you claimed were using a wooden boat to steal crude oil, on land? If indeed Tantita personnel were stealing crude with a boat, why did they need to abandon their wooden boat laden with crude oil, tens of nautical miles away from the crime scene to recover a dismantled outboard engine when the wooden boat had working engines? There are too many gaps in the Navy press release.
“In one breathe the Nigerian Navy is saying Tantita employees were caught trying to steal an outboard engine and in another breathe they are saying the Tantita operatives were arrested for trying to forcibly employ the owner of the boat to do their bidding. Quite interesting”.
