Ben Dunno, Warri
In another breakthrough in the going war against illegal bunkering in the Niger-Delta region, operatives of Tantita Security Services Limited in conjunction with Military Joint Task force and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), have impounded an ocean going vessels, MT Harbor Spirit ladened with 88,000 litres of stolen crude.
Also arrested alongside the vessel were 13 Nigerian crew members and local pilots led by the Captain, who identified himself as Shittu Joseph, who later disclosed that they were 16 crew on board but three (3) of them jumped into the river at the point of arrest and cannot confirm their present whereabout.
The vessel said to have been registered in Mordovia Republic with IMO number: 8226272, was reported to had been on the security outfit surveillance for a while when it was sighted to have strayed into the Nigerian territorial waters for unauthorized operations.
It was finally tracked by the Tantita surveillance team in the early hours of Sunday, February 4, 2024, Sangana oil field in Brass Council area of Bayelsa State, where it had siphoned over 88,000 litres of crude oil from one of the well-head at the point of arrest.
Briefing newsmen yesterday while parading both vessel and crew members at Oporaza, in Gbaramatu kingdom, Warri South-West Local Government area of Delta state, Executive Director, Technical and Operations, Tantita Security outfit, Captain Warredi Enisuoh, noted that the crew members had confessed to the crime.
According to him; “What you seeing here today is a result of the strict instruction and order by the Chief of Defence Staff on how to deal with the scourge of crude oil theft which was heavily supported by the entire security forces”,
Enisuoh who applauded the synergy between Tantita and other security agencies, noted that the crew members of the arrested vessel had been quite cooperative and did not protest until they were brought to the location.
“Both the vessel and the crew will be there until further investigations had been concluded by the appropriate government agencies into the case, he stated.
Speaking with newsmen, the Captain of the vessel, Shittu Joseph, disclosed that they were misled to moving into that location by the vessel owners who had arranged with the locals on how to siphon crude from Sangana Kingdom i Bayelsa.
He noted that they were about to disengage themselves from the vessel to another boat so they would not be involved in the crime but however ran out of luck as it was about that time that Tantita operatives and the Civil Defence swooped on them.
The captain pleaded for clemency as they were family men looking for a means of livelihood to feed their families.
The head of the Police Special Task Force On Petroleum and Illegal Bunkering, CSP Sini Umar John, noted that investigations had since commenced into the case and further information would be made public through the office of the Force Public Relations.