A wave of support is sweeping across Delta State from various communities for Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited (TSSNL) as ethnic agitations threaten to undermine its crucial pipeline surveillance contract.
Community leaders and youth organizations from Isoko and Urhobo nations have vociferously condemned calls for the termination or splitting of Tantita’s contract, describing them as “calculated distractions orchestrated by criminal cartels” and “corruption fighting back.”
A coalition of Isoko Patriot and President-Generals (PGs) of Isoko oil-bearing communities held a press conference in Ozoro, Isoko North Local Government Area, to express their strong disapproval of the campaigns against Tantita.
Chief Idonis Uwubare, President-General of Irri Kingdom, who spoke on behalf of the coalition, highlighted the significant improvements in crude oil production since Tantita’s engagement in 2022.
He said, “Prior to the engagement of Tantita in 2022, the daily crude oil production was within the neighborhood of a mere 700,000 bpd,” Chief Uwubare stated. “The story has changed for the better since the engagement of Tantita.” The coalition asserted that Tantita emerged as a timely response to a national emergency, effectively disrupting entrenched criminal networks involved in oil theft.
They further noted that Tantita has demonstrated a strong commitment to local content and inclusion, subcontracting operations within OML 26 and OML 60 to competent companies owned by Isoko indigenes. According to the Isoko leaders, Tantita is currently “one of the largest employers of labour in the Isoko land and has contributed significantly to regional stability.” They urged the federal government to disregard the “grossly misleading” calls for the contract’s cancellation and instead focus on prosecuting economic saboteurs.
Similarly, President-Generals (PGs) of Urhobo communities and coordinators of Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited (TSSNL) publicly rejected a call by the PG of the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) to terminate Tantita’s contract. Addressing the media in Ughelli, Mr. Daniel Okpetsagha, PG of Ugborhen Community, led a group that included over 3,500 Tantita employees and community representatives in passing a unanimous vote of confidence in Tantita and its Chairman, High Chief Government Ekpemupolo (alias Tompolo).
Okpetsagha described the UPU PG’s publication as misleading and not representative of the entire Urhobo interest. He emphasized that Tantita currently employs “more than 3,500 Urhobo indigenes across 88 communities in 16 Urhobo Kingdoms, making it the highest employer of labour in Urhobo land.” He clarified that every kilometer of pipeline traversing Urhobo land is fully protected by Urhobo indigenes, with all oil-bearing communities directly participating in securing facilities within their territories, in line with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021.
Adding to the chorus of support, Chief Larry Adanike, a prominent community leader from Ogulagha Kingdom in Warri South West Local Government Area, cautioned Urhobo communities against what he termed “sponsored protests” against Tantita. Adanike highlighted that the same contract, now partly handled by Tantita, was previously managed by a company owned by the late Capt. Hosa from Edo State in Urhobo territories for eight years without protest, even when oil production had plummeted to 650,000 barrels per day due to rampant vandalization.
Adanike, an Ijaw himself, stressed the inimical nature of targeting a company based on the ethnic origin of its owner. He pointed out that oil production has significantly improved to at least 1.8 million barrels per day since Tantita took over. He also cited numerous major pipeline contracts currently being executed by Urhobo and Isoko contractors in Ijaw communities without any protests or disturbances, including companies like Macharry Ltd., De-Wayles, Chief Bernard Edewor, and in the past, Eruben Ltd., SJ Jones, and SAMOT Ltd.
“When the Security Surveillance Jobs were awarded by NAPPIMS through settlors like SPDC decades ago, it was frontline Urhobo contractors…that handled all major Security and Maintenance contracts for decades in Ijaw areas,” Adanike stated. He appealed to Urhobo and Itsekiri brothers to “be circumspect and think twice about this fight against Tantita,” warning that such actions could be counter-productive to inter-ethnic harmony. He also noted that no Ijaw community is protesting against the Olu of Warri’s company, Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited, which is executing a similar surveillance contract in Ijaw areas.
The unified stance from various Delta communities underscores a strong belief in Tantita’s efficacy and its positive economic and security impact on the region, urging for continued focus on combating oil theft rather than succumbing to ethnic divisions.
