AN illegal oil bunkering vessel that had been captured with stolen crude oil aboard Niger Delta creeks was destroyed today by Nigerian Navy personnel in Delta State.
Reports revealed that on October 6, 2022, on the creeks of Escravos, agents of the recently hired private oil pipeline monitoring team, Tantita Security Services, arrested the vessel and its seven-person crew while crude oil was being illegally loaded onto the ship.
The vessel with registration number L85 B9.50 was allegedly carrying 600 to 650 cubic meters to five compartments of crude oil that had been unlawfully taken at the time it was apprehended.
At around 3 p.m. this afternoon, Nigerian Navy personnel set fire to the ill-fated ship on the Warri River after the ship’s captain, Temple Manasseh, admitted that the ship was actually loaded with crude.
In his confession, Manasseh admitted that Tantita Security Services agents had actually detained him and his crew mates.
However, he stated that some armed individuals forcedfully kidnapped his vessel, diverted it via the waterways, and loaded crude oil onto it.
He said, “I was arrested in Escravos by Tompolo boys but the alleged stolen crude oil was not loaded by me. My vessel was hijacked by some boys who forced the loaded crude into my ship. I don’t know the hijackers at all. But when Tompolo security operatives stormed the scene, they all ran away and abandoned their loading operation which had lasted about two and a half hours.”
Captain Warredi Enisuoh, the marine intelligence consultant for Tantita Security Services, confirmed that the arrest was the result of intelligence gathering, explaining that the security personnel “monitored the space via satellite” even though the Nigerian Navy officials who destroyed the illegal oil vessel refused to speak to journalists about the incident.
Records, according to Captain Enisuoh, show that the Dutch ship that was sold to a Nigerian had been “used for carrying crude oil illegally for years.” He also said that the vessel that was captured was supposed to transport the stolen oil to Tema in Ghana.
He expressed delight that “the operation of Tantita Security Services in collaboration with Operation Delta Safe, which is a government and private sector initiative, has yielded positive result leading to the arrest.”
Enisuoh further told journalists that, “Tantita actually has intelligence on five vessels. It was the only one (the destroyed vessel) that came in since the security operations started. And the identities of the vessel’s owners have been established.
“Our advice is that the rest should not come near Nigerian waters because if you think Nigeria is not serious, today’s revelation is their answer.”
