Crude oil bunkerers have revealed that some Nigerian military personnel, who are supposed to stop oil bunkering, organize and consolidate their business in the creek for huge sums of money. They said that they paid various levies to establish their crude oil refining camps and get security protection.

In addition, security personnel pass information to them whenever other security agencies plot to raid their locations. The personnel reportedly have a record of illegal oil bunkerers in their good book, so they shield their camps from destruction. Also, some of the unauthorized refining camps belong to some retired and serving military personnel, who hire skilled artisans and locals to work for them.

A former oil bunkerer in the Burutu area of Delta State, Fumilayo, told Saturday Vanguard: ?It is the Navy personnel who coordinated our business. They are involved from the time you want to build your camp. We pay them money while moving our construction equipment to the site. We pay for every ?Contonou? boat of crude oil; we also pay them when we are going to sell our products. We pay for police escorts. We normally supply all the telecommunications masts in different locations. If you do not settle, they will burn your camp. They give us information when other security people plan to destroy camps. But we usually settle them very well. I have stopped the business because the Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited (TSSNL), operated by ex-militant leader, High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, came and destroyed our camp,? he said.

In Edo State, our investigation showed a heavy connivance with security agencies in the smuggling of petroleum products but the reinvigorated efforts of Tantita have caused a significant reduction. Armed military personnel escort oil thieves to smuggle petroleum products through a high-profile oil palm plantation used as a smokescreen.

A former worker of an oil-thieving firm said, ?This act was to avoid being detected as they moved the truckloads of petroleum products through the routes that crisscross the oil-palm plantation so that an unsuspecting person seeing them will think it is oil palm from the plantation. This operation was mostly carried out after negotiation, including coercion, between the military officers and my company?s security head, who will then instruct the guards on duty to allow passage.?

Our investigation indicated that the Gelegele?Ofunama axis is another notorious smuggling route in the state. Oil bunkerers carry mostly diesel in drums, huge jerricans, and special nylons. They move the products between 1 am and 3 am. Sometimes, they compromise the local security (vigilante) in their routes to move their stolen products.

An ex-agitator in Akwa-Ibom State who shared an insider observation, experiences, and encounters told Saturday Vanguard in Uyo: ?There are two basic levels to oil theft in the operating space. In the shallow swamp fields, some people tap into wells or flow lines and siphon crude into sizable large wooden boats that feed illegal refineries that spread through the coastal line. Mbo locality is a major hub in Akwa Ibom. On the larger scale, the big players from Lagos and Abuja load into large vessels from the terminal line in the deep waters. These vessels are mainly for import, some to field refineries in neighboring African countries, and others go beyond the continent.

?The key actors may differ, but the security operatives are a constant. In my time, I was in the swamp field and collected crude to feed local refineries and some industries that fire their machines with hydrocarbons. Though the creeks provide cover, the business is not as hidden as the security operatives make it seem. They know fields and lines that are prone to theft. The storage boats are not only too large to be hidden; they also pass through the open rivers to distribute to the illegal refineries.

?Around the target assets, wells, and pipelines to break into, military personnel are positioned in houseboats or camps on the river route. To have the freedom to steal and move about, you have to settle the service commanders controlling rivers and camps of the security agents ? be they Joint Task Force, JTF, Navy, or Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC.

You settle the ?Ogas,? they clear you to tap in and siphon. The next settlement is that the security camps become toll points. As you ferry the crude-laden wooden boat to sell to artisanal refineries, you settle every JTF or naval checkpoint you pass on the rivers. After settling the service commanders, one could pay over N100,000 toll. Most locals who cook the crude oil do not pay for what we supply; other financiers, including retail owners, pay for the crude in the illegal refineries.

?Much of the diesel ?cooked? find its way to filling stations and is sold as though imported. Those who steal in vessels around loading platforms settle from Abuja. I was not on that level.?

Nimi Brador (not real name for security reasons), a former supervisor at an illegal refining camp in the deep swamp of Rivers and Bayelsa enclave, who had retired from the business, said spies from the local communities and security agencies tipped them off when troops were coming for attack.

The young man, a computer engineer in his late thirties, who managed a camp for three years for his uncle, said he opted out of the swamp to live a normal life because of the many dangers associated with the business. He said, ?The business is a dangerous venture and we were constantly on the lookout for the military. Even before they got to the open creek and river we were tipped off by our spies in the communities and friends within the security circle. Some security personnel, serving and retired, owned some of these camps.?

?We received information recently that oil thieves were loading crude into tankers from a barge on the Ovwian River in Delta State,? said a senior TSSNL official, confirming findings that some security personnel allegedly work with oil bunkerers.

?Our men went with security operatives to apprehend them and seized the barge when they reached there, but officials from the Warri command of a national security agency came in many gunboats and ordered our men to leave. Before we knew it, they started shooting indiscriminately, and the scuffle lasted for almost an hour. They took the barge away.

?Similarly in Rivers State, our operatives arrested oil bunkerers and wanted to take samples; officials from the same security agency came and started shooting our people, and some were wounded. They said they gave them papers to load. They are not happy with what we (Tantita) are doing because it is spoiling their business; this is why they always confront our people whenever we make any arrest,? he added.

The chairman of the Gelegele community and former secretary of the Ijaw Youth Council, western zone, Omagbomi Olu-Derimo, and other stakeholders confirmed that the TSSNL has seriously checked the menace of petroleum products smugglers in the area.

According to him, ?Since the coming of the Tantita, crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism have been curtailed. The efforts of the security outfit are already paying off. For now, as far as I know, the issue of illegal oil bunkering is almost eliminated; that is the situation of things over here. Before now, there has been a collaboration between illegal bunkerers, smugglers, and security agencies, but things have changed drastically; even to see pockets of these things happening is very difficult. TSSNL has done much; they cover the forests and the waterways, like in my area, and taking things through that area is very difficult. In fact, for the past six to eight months, I have not seen any illegal bunkering activity in our axis.?

Security agencies make daring incursions

As if countering the oil bunkerers? claim, the army and other security agencies swooped on suspected oil thieves in separate operations in Edo, Delta, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom States weeks ago. They demolished 13 illicit refining camps and took 15 suspects into custody.

The Acting Deputy Director of Public Relations, 6 Division of the Nigerian Army, Lieutenant Colonel Jonah Danjuma, said they recovered 300,000 liters of stolen petroleum products and destroyed over 150 locally made ovens during the raids.

His words: ?These successes included dismantling 13 illegal bunkering hubs, demobilizing four boats, arresting 15 oil thieves, deactivating over 150 locally made ovens, and recovering over 300,000 liters of stolen products. The operations were conducted closely with other sister services from 20-26 January 2025. While on routine anti-illegal bunkering operations, troops swooped on a vandalized point, with a large pool stocked with 252,000 liters of stolen crude oil at Ugo Community in the Orhiomwon Local Government Area (LGA) of Edo State. The products were suspected of being stolen from a vandalized point.

?Further exploitation led to the recovery of a pumping machine, hose, and pipes. At the Asade community in the Ethiope West Local Government Area of Delta State, troops intercepted a red 30,000-liter capacity DAF Tanker Truck without a plate number, siphoning crude from the PAN Ocean Nigeria Limited Pipeline located in the bush in the Ovade general area. It was discovered that over 15,000 liters of stolen crude were already siphoned before the truck was intercepted.

?In Rivers State, particularly along the Imo River corridor, the operations led to confiscating over 10,000 liters of stolen products. These products were recovered around Lekuma, Abiama, and Oyigbo. Relatedly, an illegal refining site was discovered along Odagwa along the Imo River waterways. On arrival at a camp in the Owaza general area, it was noted to be fully active. The criminals deserted the area on sighting troops. In a follow-up operation conducted, one pump-action gun was recovered.

?At the Obiafu Oil field in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA (ONELGA), troops dismantled three illegal refining sites in a cluster, with ten cooking drums, two rolls of hose, and eight reservoirs. This feat was replicated around the Abalama Community in Asari-Toru LGA, where troops discovered some carefully concealed jerricans filled with illegally refined automotive gas oil (AGO) and dual-purpose kerosene (DPK) estimated to be over 1,500 liters.

?Similarly, in the Abacheke area, also in ONELGA, troops stormed a bunkering camp, where they discovered four illegal refining sites, 145 locally made oven drums, and seven wheelbarrows with 95 sacks filled with 5,700 liters of stolen AGO. There was also the discovery of a locally made reservoir stocked with over 3,500 liters of stolen products. Eight suspected oil thieves have been arrested in connection with the economic sabotage.

Also, at Okoromadi in Abua Odual LGA, troops closed up on an illegal refining site, where four big and small boilers with receivers were discovered. Troops are currently combing the general area for possible arrest of economic saboteurs.

?In Akwa Ibom State, troops raided an illegally refined AGO storage facility at Ikot Abia in Ikot Ekpene LGA. Further exploitation led to the recovery of over 30 polythene bags filled with an unspecified quantity of stolen AGO and several empty jerricans. While in Bayelsa State, at the Isonogbene general area in Brass LGA, two illegal refining sites were taken out with over 5,000 liters of stolen crude recovered?.

The story continues next week with how the Federal Government can tackle oil theft by N-Delta leaders and other stakeholders. (Saturday Vanguard)

Update news