The operation was carried out on the Ekeni Sea, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of state in the Niger Delta region of the country.
A private security contractor affiliated with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Tanita Security Services Nigeria Limited, has reportedly intercepted a vessel weighing 3,000 tons loaded with approximately 119 barrels of suspected stolen crude oil in Bayelsa State.
The operation was carried out on the Ekeni Sea, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of state in the Niger Delta region of the country.
The vessel, identified as MT KALI with IMO N0. 8782800, was intercepted at around 12:25 am on Thursday and carried a crew of 12 members along with 13 community workers.
It was reported that the vessel is currently held at Tantita Operational Base in Oporoza, Gbaramatu Kingdom of Delta State.
Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited (TSSNL), a private security company operated by ex-militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, was engaged by the NNPCL, to secure oil pipelines in the Niger Delta oil-rich region and fight against oil vandals.
The engagement of Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited during former President Muhammadu Buhari administration had also been a subject of controversy. However, the security company has made a series of arrests and seizure of vessels laden with stolen crude oil.
As at November 2023, the Nigerian government said that more than N4.3tn worth of crude oil was stolen in 7,143 pipeline vandalism cases within a period of five years.
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), a Federal Government agency, revealed that oil theft and losses in Nigeria had become a national emergency.
The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Ogbonnaya Orji, had said that oil theft was an emergency that posed a serious threat to oil exploration and exploitation with huge negative consequences on economic growth, business prospects and profit earnings by oil companies.