Navy Arrests 4 Of Tompolo's Men Over Illegal Oil Bunkering

The Nigerian Navy said it has arrested four men allegedly involved in Oil Bunkering along Lekki Waters.

The disclosure, made on Tuesday, identified the suspects as members of Tantita Security Services, TSS, owned by ex Niger Delta warlord, Government Ekperemupolo, aka, Tompolo. 

The men were arrested by Naval operatives of the Lekki-based FOB Tango, close to the Itolu community, following intelligence reports from residents of the area, alarmed by gunshots from the waterside.

Commander of NNS Beecroft, Commodore Kolawole Oguntuga, who spoke to newsmen while parading the suspects, disclosed that the suspects were arrested as they were attacking a local from whom they attempted to steal a boat engine.

“In a swift response to a distress call, the Nigerian Navy stationed at FOB Lekki foiled an attempted oil theft operation on the waterways near Itolu community, Lekki, in Lagos State.

“The incident occurred in the early hours of August 29, 2023, when local youths reported gunshots in the vicinity of the community.

“Reviewing the information, naval patrol teams immediately launched a response operation. Upon arrival at the scene, the naval team met four individuals dressed in black polo shirts with TANTITA inscribed on the back, trying to recover a dismantled outboard engine from a local. The team recovered the engine and apprehended the four Tantita employees.”

According to Commodore Oguntuga, investigations have revealed that the suspects were part of a larger group of individuals who were operating a large wooden boat with two fibre engines.

“It was after this arrest that the patrol team realised that the four individuals were part of a movement of a large wooden boat with two fibre boats. The four arrested individuals beckoned on the two fibre boats to approach them but when they noticed NN patrol teams, the boats altered courses fled away, and abandoned the large wooden boat laden with 11 x 1000L Geepee tanks with product suspected to be stolen crude oil.

“The arrested individuals have been identified as Asonja Goddey (28), Obajimi Oluwaseyifunmi (38), Awoowo Aribo (35), and Oluwadaisi Balogun (40), all hailing from Igbokoda in Ondo State. The owner of the boat they were trying to forcibly employ, Ishola Ojubuyi (42), is also taken into custody.

“The Nigerian Navy has initiated an investigation to unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident, particularly the possession of firearms used in the community, economic sabotage, how the product came from Ondo State to Lagos State as well as attempting to steal a boat engine from the locals.

“Also, one Mr Owoyele Omotuyi who was identified as a Tantita staff member, came to secure the release of the four apprehended, claiming they were Tantita employees. All suspects along with the confiscated exhibits will be handed over to appropriate agencies for further necessary action and prosecution,” he added.

However, Tantita Security Services has debunked the allegation that their men were involved in any oil theft as alleged by the Nigerian Navy.

Speaking through its Ondo state coordinator, Idowu Asonja, the outfit said its apprehended operatives were after the real culprits who are the owners of the said wooden boat, which he said, contained crude oil products. 

Asonja, who introduced a twist to the issue, alleged that the Navy was paid to guide the vessel. 

“It is a pathetic and worrisome moment in the western corridor of the Niger Delta states as Nigerian Navy officers arrested four of the Tantita security guards in Ondo/Ogun Zone after the Tantita guards successfully apprehended a wooden vessel fully loaded with crude oil.

“This afternoon, it happens that the Navy security initially were parading a wooden vessel loaded with crude oil, after a while, they released the vessel which was fully loaded with crude oil by some oil thieves.

Asonja alleged that Tantita operatives mounted surveillance in the area, after which they swooped on the boat and its operators having ascertained that Navy personnel were paid to guide the boat.

According to him, owners of the vessel ran away on citing Tantita men only to return with the naval personnel stationed at the nearby Dangote Refinery, to arrest Tantita men. 

“Meanwhile, the Tantita security guards were monitoring the matter and later bombarded the vessel after discovering that the Navy officers were paid to guide the vessel. This notorious act/display by the Navy officers provoked the Tantita guards in the area to pursue the vessel, which they later succeeded in arresting.

“To our greatest surprise, the owners of the vessel ran away and came back to the scene with some Nigerian Navy officers working at the Dangote Refinery, which resulted in a conflict and finally, the Navy officers attacked my men, later arrested four of the Tantita security guards from Ondo zone, and set free the wooden vessel.”