BY CHRIS AWHAWHA, WARRI
The management of Tantita Security Services Ltd, on Saturday, described the of its operatives by officers of the Nigerian Navy as a smear campaign against the private security firm.
Tantila is an indigenous security firm linked to Chief Government Ekpemupolo alias Tompolo.
The Nigeria Navy had on Friday confirmed the arrest of the security firm’s personnel over alleged theft of crude oil.
Responding to the statement credited to the Commander, NNS BEECROFT, Commodore Kolawole Olumide Oguntuga personnel were arrested for crude oil theft, Tantila said the accusation was totally false and misleading.
The Nigerian Navy had claimed that it foiled crude oil involving the arrested persons in the early hours of August 29th 2023 while attempting to steal crude.
The private security firm however faulted this in a statement on Saturday.
“On Monday the 28th of August 2023 at about 0130hours a Tantita Security Services Patrol team operating in the Ondo State area received credible intelligence that a motorised wooden boat was illegally loading crude oil from an Offshore Oil Well Jacket – in fact, the same Well Jacket in OML 110 operated by Cavendish Petroleum Nigeria Limited, where the MT TURA II was caught stealing Crude Oil a few months ago.
“An advance team was dispatched to find the wooden boat while a back up team consisting of Nigeria Civil Defence and Security Corps (NSCDC) component of the Government Security Agencies (GSA) was assembled to follow through on the lead.
“While we cannot name the NSCDC personnel for obvious reasons, they were six in number and our personnel were eight not four in number. The advance team with the help of local fisherfolk was able to determine that the motorised wooden boat was heading in the direction of Lagos and gave hot pursuit.
“Upon noticing the approaching Tantita teams, the crew of the motorised wooden boat abandoned the wooden boat for their speed boat. One team of Tantita and NSCDC personnel boarded the wooden boat to secure the evidence while another team gave hot pursuit.
“There is video evidence of the Tantita team together with NSCDC personnel coming alongside the wooden boat, boarding and attempting to secure the boat,” the company said in the statement.
It stressed that it also possesses evidence of the Tantita and GSA team giving chase to the crew of the boat.
“How then did the Nigerian Navy get involved in this operation? The video also shows the Tantita crew trying to secure the wooden boat which was taking in water (this could have resulted from an attempt to scuttle the boat by the escaping crew; anyone who understands Yoruba can listen in on the conversations).
“Surprisingly the escaping crew of the motorised wooden boat fled in the direction of the Nigerian Navy Forward Operation Base at Ibeju-Lekki, so the Tantita and NSCDC personnel followed in hot pursuit believing that the criminals would meet their Waterloo there. They were wrong.
“Instead of the fleeing crew being arrested, it was the Tantita personnel who came down to apprehend the fleeing crew that was arrested,” the firm said.
It explained further that after arresting its personnel and freeing the crew, the Nigerian Navy personnel went to the motorised wooden boat and drove out the combined Tantita/GSA team trying to keep the boat and the evidence afloat.
“The Nigerian Navy press release was nothing but a smear campaign, the Navy has been sharing pictures in social media of the Tantita staff in their custody in various shades of undress but kept silent about the names of the boat crew whom they were chasing?
“In short, where is the crew that the Tantita personnel chased into Ibeju Lekki? Most importantly, where is the boat now? You can clearly see the boat in the video provided below. Did the Nigerian Navy secure the boat? Can the Nigerian Navy explain the whereabouts of the motorised wooden boat? They were the last seen with the boat,” the firm alleged.
The statement further queried the possiblity that the Nigerian Navy deploys costly assets in these days of expensive petrol/diesel to respond to communal distress calls involving commercial disputes as to ownership of outboard engines?
Again, let us assume for the sake of argument that the distress call was with respect to shooting in Itolou community in Lekki area of Lagos State, what became of that investigation? Can the Navy tell the nation, after four days of investigation, who was shooting? The time frames here are important.
“Tantita patrol team took off at 0130hrs (1:30 at night) on Monday 28th August 2023, and spotted the wooden boat at approximately 1400hours (2 in the afternoon) same Monday 28th August 2023 and were arrested by the Navy a few hours later on Monday 28th of August 2023.
“Why then did the Navy press release say it arrested Tantita personnel on Tuesday 29th August 2023? Why is the Navy saying it arrested 4 persons when in fact it arrested 5?,” Tantila said.
It alleged thay the Navy is quite good at publicising videos of their personnel boarding vessels suspected of conveying illicit crude and refined products.
“Where is the Navy’s video of boarding this wooden boat and arresting the Tantita personnel? How do you arrest oil thieves you claimed were using a wooden boat to steal crude oil, on land?
“If indeed Tantita personnel were stealing crude with a boat, why did they need to abandon their wooden boat laden with crude oil, tens of nautical miles away from the crime scene to recover a dismantled outboard engine when the wooden boat had working engines?
“There are too many gaps in the Navy press release. In one breathe, the Nigerian Navy is saying Tantita employees were caught trying to steal an outboard engine and in another breathe they are saying the Tantita operatives were arrested for trying to forcibly employ the owner of the boat to do their bidding. Quite interesting,” the statement said.
Tantila said the arrest for four days and parade of its by the Nigerian Navy as common criminals is to be deprecated by all right-thinking members of society; at a time when the nation is in dire straits with the unparalleled loss of revenue from a monocultural export-based economy.
It noted that these family men put their lives at risk for the good of the nation and are now being made to suffer ridicule for doing the right thing.
“It serves to demoralise good men everywhere who have sought and are seeking to do something to better our nation,” the organisation said.