Former commander of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, High Chief Government Tompolo has said his company, Tantita security outfit, is being hindered from carrying out its responsibility of protecting the country’s oil assets from thieves.
According to the company, chief among the hindrances and saboteurs is the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The company alleged in a statement on Saturday that the EFCC arrested and had detained since January 2023 its Director of Operatives and Technical, Capt. Warredi Enisuoh, who, it claims, played pivotal roles in the N48 billion pipeline surveillance contract.
According to the company, it is aware of the plans by some cabals involved in the theft of the country’s oil to scuttle its operations after the company had successfully broken their illegal ring.
“Tantita has been in the news for the amazing progress being made in returning Nigeria to pride of place as the leading oil producer in Africa. However, as we speak, efforts are being made to strangulate Tantita opera- tions.”
The company alleged that some powerful forces in the country are hiding behind operatives of the EFCC to use the commission to scuttle the intensified action against the theft of Nigeria’s oil resources in the country.
The company alleged further that since its Director of Operations and Technical honoured the invitation by the EFCC, and was detained, all efforts to get him out had proved abortive.
The surveillance firm said that the EFCC invitation came in the middle of an ongoing operation to uncover one of the biggest oil stealing cartels in the country.
“On the 19th of January 2023, Tantita’s Executive Director Operations and Technical Capt. Warredi Enisuoh was invited by the EFCC and detained. He has been in EFCC custody since. All efforts to ensure his release has proved abortive, as the commission has insisted that unless he provides a list of names who were his intelligence sources he would not be released.
“The EFCC invitation came right in the middle of an ongoing operation to unravel one of the biggest oil stealing cartels in this country. Capt Warredi Enisuoh, our ED Operations and Technical flew straight from Port Harcourt (where he was coordinating the operations) to Lagos to heed the EFCC’s invitation and walked right into a trap…
“While Tantita is deter- mined to carry on the fight against the oil thieves regardless, it is our position that the EFCC investigation, if genuine, can be carried out with min- imal interference to the war on oil thieves and if not, it is clearly being used by power- ful forces to scuttle the war on oil thieves. Let Nigerians be aware of what is being done in their name,” the statement read in part.