The Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Central Zone Chairman, Comr. Iniefe Perekosufa, has called on President Bola Tinubu to renew the oil and gas security surveillance contract awarded to the Tantita Security Services (TSS).
Perekosufa who stated this on Friday during a press briefing, at Ijaw House Yenagoa, the Bayelsa, noted that the appeal is supported by satisfactory performance in the term contract.
The IYC Chairman Central Zone, said that the call has become necessary in the light of the recent agitation and coordinated campaign of calumny by certain individuals and their associates.
“Most notably Ebikabowei Victor (popularly known as Boyloaf) and Bibopere Ajube (also known as Shoot-at-Sight) who have been calling for decentralization of the pipeline surveillance contract currently executed by Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited.
“We consider it important to present the facts to the world and to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, so that national decisions are guided by truth, history and measurable outcomes.
“Before addressing the present agitation, it is important to recall that the pipeline surveillance contract in the Niger Delta has undergone several operational phases.
“For more than six years responsibility for pipeline surveillance was handled almost exclusively by Ocean Marine Solution Limited, a company owned by the late Captain Hosa Okunbo of Edo State,” he said.
The Central Zone Chairman, said that Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, was engaged by the federal government towards the end of president Muhammad Buhari’s administration, was producing barely around 800,000 barrels of crude oil per day, far below its production capacity.
He described the Tantita’s surveillance contract as one of the positive things inherited and sustained by the Tinubu’s administration, saying it had stopped the conflicts that led to the decline in oil production.
According to him: “The Nigerian economy was under immense pressure. Government revenues were declining, and the country faced the real threat of losing credibility in the global energy market.
“This situation resulted in severe economic hardship and recessionary pressures.
“It was within this context of national emergency that the federal government engaged Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, under the leadership of High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, to replicate the success previously recorded under President Goodluck Jonathan.
“Since Tantita assumed responsibility in 2022, Nigeria has witnessed a dramatic improvement in pipeline security and oil production stability.
“Hundreds of illegal tapping points have been discovered and dismantled. Thousands of illegal refining sites have been destroyed.
“Pipeline vandalism has been significantly reduced. Vessels previously loitering in shallow offshore areas to facilitate oil theft have largely ceased operations due to sustained enforcement actions by Tantita.
“Host communities that were once deeply entangled in illegal oil activities are now actively collaborating with surveillance teams to protect national assets.
“These achievements have directly contributed to the recovery of Nigeria’s oil production and the stabilization of national revenue.
“It is for this reason that President Tinubu could confidently state that state governments are no longer struggling to secure loans, as there is now access to steady monthly revenue,” he said.
