Headline

Oil Theft: Tompolo Exposes IOCs, Security Officials, Oil Bunkerers

Published

3 years ago

October 8, 2022

…Uncovers 16 hidden tapping points on trans-Forcados/Ramos pipeline

Operatives of Tantita Security Services Limited, the surveillance outfit of ex-militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, have discovered major tapping points on the Trans-Forcados/Ramos Pipeline in Delta State, through which International Oil Companies, security officials, oil bunkerers, and locals colluded to bleed the country, over the years.

It was gathered that Tompolo discovered the breaches after the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPCL, awarded him a pipeline surveillance contract, but he took time to investigate to find out those perpetrating the act.

His preliminary findings are top-secret information for the Chief of Defense Staff, CDS, General Lucky Irabor, and Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPCL, Alhaji Mele Kyari, both of who flew in from Abuja to Delta state to inspect the several violations, yesterday.

NNPCL and security officials counted 16 breaches on the pipeline operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, at Yokri community and environs in Delta state, on Friday.

The pipeline runs from Otumara and ends at Forcados Terminal, but oil thieves, oil companies, and security officials had been siphoning crude oil from the line for a long time.

General Irabor, who spoke to reporters after inspecting the breaches, vowed that the Ministry of Defence would not leave any stone unturned in fishing out the culprits.

He said the ministry would carry out an investigation on the entire stretch to find out those involved, “and how long it has been among other issues.”

Also speaking to reporters, NNPCL boss, Kyari, said, “First, the attachments on our Trans- Forcados/Ramos pipeline, which are illegal connections, were professionally done.”

“And the result is that they connected it to an inner case line which will never carry crude under normal circumstances and we have seen that this line flow all the way parallel with the other two active lines into the Forcados platform.”

On the next line of action, he asserted, “The CDS has said clearly that he would investigate, and anyone involved in this process, whether from the community members, community contractors, government security agencies, workers of the oil companies, including NNPCL and Shell will be dealt with.”

He acknowledged that the company was getting massive support from security agencies and other stakeholders in the campaign to stop illegal oil bunkering.

A top official of Tantita Security Services, Engr. Ketson Pondi, who spoke on the discovery, said: “We are at the Trans- Forcados/Ramos pipeline at Yokri Flow Station, the breaches occurred at different locations on the trans-Forcados/Ramos pipeline.

“Our operation has been on for six weeks and within this period, we have discovered 16 breaches. Of the 16 that we have excavated, we have intelligence on two that are further from where we are coming from and we are still excavating.

“We will follow the pipeline until we get to Ogidigben and Madangho communities. Therefore, only God knows how many breaches we are going to see as we proceed further. At this moment, we have discovered 16 points of breaches.

“Many people are complicit in this illegal oil activities, whether it is in the security sector, community sector, even in the oil industry, that is why Tompolo is coming in.

“If you know that you have been involved and nobody is doing anything, this is the time for you to evacuate. If you do not stop, the laws protecting,” he said.

Vanguard learned that Tantita operatives started their scrutiny on the pipeline from somewhere in Obotobo community, about a week and five days ago, and also found some illegal refineries, which they reported to the authorities to destroy.

“The pipeline is being terribly tapped, we have arrested nobody, and what we are doing now is to check the pipeline, if we discover illegal refineries, we report to the authorities for them to destroy them. If we also discover tapping as we have done now, we will also report it to the authorities.

“However, if we discover people doing illegal business and apprehend them, we will hand them over to the authorities, but from all indications, it is difficult to arrest those doing tapping, you can only do it with special intel. But having reported to the authorities, they will take their decision and possibly make an arrest.

“So far, we have checked about 50 percent of the pipeline but our responsibility is very clear, as we trot the line, we also make sure we put our security personnel on the line. Tantita Security Services provide intelligence and surveillance and we interface between the communities and the oil companies that have locations on the line.

“All lines are valves, when you put people on the line, it means that nobody should come to the place to open the valve to steal oil. With what we have discovered now, the operators, in this case, SPDC, has to come and clamp the line. Until they do that, our people will be there to ensure that nobody opens any valve to steal crude oil around that place,” a company official added.
VANGUARD

Headline

Men Can Take Wives’ Surnames —South Africa’s Top Court Rules

Published

7 hours ago

September 11, 2025

Editor

South Africa’s top court ruled Thursday that men should be able to take their wives’ surnames and a law that prevented this amounted to unfair gender discrimination.

The Constitutional Court said the legal ban served no legitimate government purpose and was suspended, paving the way for parliament to enact amendments to the legislation.

While men were deprived of the ability to take their wives’ surnames, the discrimination was “far more insidious” for women, the ruling said.

It “reinforces patriarchal gender norms, which prescribe how women may express their identity, and it makes this expression relational to their husband, as a governmental and cultural default,” it said.

The case was brought to court by two couples, one of which wanted to honour the woman’s parents who died when she was young. In the other case, the woman wanted to keep her ties to her family surname as she was an only child.

Previously, men would have to apply to the home affairs department to change their surname, a request that was not automatically granted.

Provisions allowing men to assume their wives’ surname on marriage are already in place in other countries, mainly in Europe and in certain US states.

AFP

Headline

Jihadist Blockades Disrupt Trade, Travel In Landlocked Mali

Published

8 hours ago

September 11, 2025

Editor

Jihadists have set up roadblocks in the south and west of landlocked Mali near the borders with Senegal and Mauritania, where vital goods are imported daily.

Mali has battled a security crisis for over a decade, fuelled by violence by groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) as well as local criminal gangs, which is compounded by a severe economic downturn.

Since early September, jihadists have imposed intermittent roadblocks on major routes leading to the capital, disrupting the movement of goods and people near Bamako and in the west.

Several witnesses told AFP that traffic had been brought to a standstill and was stretching back more than 10 kilometres (six miles) on a main highway near Bamako because of a blockade.

Mali’s junta has sought to play down the impact.

“If enemy movements are sometimes observed, they do not last more than 20 to 30 minutes. Therefore, we cannot talk about a blockade,” said Colonel-Major Souleymane Dembele, head of the army’s Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIRPA), at a press conference on Monday.

Observers say the jihadists’ aim is to paralyse the economy, rather than to control territory.

They also want to show that the Malian army does not have the security situation under control, they say.

A private transport company, which has been targeted in attacks by the jihadists, has announced it is suspending its services “until further notice for security reasons”.

Several vehicles transporting fuel or consumer products coming from Senegal have also been targeted by the violence.

At least 10 buses have also been set on fire across the country by the jihadists, who first forced the passengers off the vehicles, according to an AFP count.

– ‘Restore order’ –

With no direct access to the sea, Mali imports most of the products it needs by road, such as hydrocarbons, fish, fruits and vegetables, from the port of Dakar, Mauritania or Ivory Coast.

Last weekend no tanker truck carrying fuel made the Dakar-to-Bamako trip for fear of reprisals from jihadists.

“We have decided to stop all our trucks for the time being. We are considering sending emissaries to the jihadists to discuss securing our activities,” an official from a Malian fuel company told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Jihadists also abducted six Senegalese drivers last weekend before later releasing them.

The Malian army, which initially played down the blockades, has announced it is deploying troops to “restore order” on highways in the west and south of the country.

“The situation is difficult. The army has sent reinforcements into the field, it’s true. But these reinforcements don’t stay long, while the jihadists remain on the ground,” an elected official in the western Kayes region told AFP.

“The army must change its mode of intervention,” the deputy added.

Junta chief General Assimi Goita on Tuesday chaired an extraordinary defence council meeting in Bamako.

No official statement was released afterwards, but a source close to the talks said the security situation had been discussed.

“Significant measures have been taken to ensure the safety of property and people,” the source said.

Mali has been ruled by a junta since back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021.

Since then, the military rulers of the West African nation have turned away from traditional Western partners, especially former colonial power France, and strengthened ties with Russia and China.

AFP

Headline

35 killed In Israeli Air Strikes On Yemen Following Attack In Qatar

Published

8 hours ago

September 11, 2025

Editor

At least 35 people were killed and more than 130 were injured after Israeli air strikes targeted multiple locations in Yemen on Wednesday, a day after Israel bombed a residential building in Doha, Qatar, in an apparent attempt to assassinate Hamas leaders, Al-Jazeera reported.

According to Yemen’s Ministry of Health on Thursday, the strikes hit densely populated residential areas in the capital, Sanaa, as well as the Al-Jawf governorate.

The ministry described the casualties as a preliminary toll and warned that the death count may rise as rescue teams continue to search for survivors beneath the rubble.

The ministry reported that among the locations struck were homes in Sanaa’s al-Tahrir neighbourhood, a medical facility on 60th Street, and a government compound in Al-Hazm, the capital of Al-Jawf.

Civil defence teams are currently working to extinguish fires and pull survivors from the debris. The attacks caused widespread damage to civilian infrastructure, including fuel and health facilities.

The Houthi-run Al Masirah TV stated that “martyrs, wounded, and several homes [were] damaged as a result of the Israeli attack on the Moral Guidance Headquarters,” adding that Israeli forces targeted the health sector in southwest Sanaa and government buildings in Al-Jawf.

The Yemen Oil and Gas Corporation also confirmed that a medical station on al-Sitteen Street was struck during the bombardment.

In response to the air strikes, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed that the group used surface-to-air missiles to repel Israeli aircraft.

“Our air defences were able to launch a number of surface-to-air missiles while confronting the Zionist aggression against our country,” Saree said in a statement on Telegram. “Some combat formations were forced to leave before carrying out their aggression, and the bulk of the attack was thwarted, thanks be to God.”

Israel’s military later confirmed the operation.

“A short while ago, the IAF [Israeli Air Force] struck military targets belonging to the Houthi terrorist regime in the areas of Sanaa and Al-Jawf in Yemen.

“The targets included military camps in which operatives of the terrorist regime were identified, the Houthis’ military public relations headquarters and a fuel storage facility that was used by the terrorist regime,” said an Israeli military spokesperson in a statement.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attack was in retaliation for a Houthi drone strike on Israel’s Ramon Airport earlier this week.

“This [attack] did not weaken our hand – we struck them again from the air today, at their terror facilities, at terror bases with a great many terrorists, and also at other facilities.

“We will continue to strike. Anyone who strikes us, anyone who attacks us – we will reach them,” Netanyahu said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

This latest escalation followed a pattern of repeated Israeli attacks on Yemen. Last month, Israeli air strikes killed top Yemeni officials, including Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi. The Houthis have vowed continued resistance against Israel, stating that they will persist in their operations until the war on Gaza ends.

The group has imposed a maritime blockade on Israeli-linked vessels in the Red Sea and launched multiple air strikes into Israeli territory. The Houthis have said they will cease attacks only if a ceasefire is reached in Gaza.

The ongoing Israeli campaign in Gaza has now stretched into its 23rd month. More than 64,000 Palestinians have been reported killed since the start of the war in October 2023.

In addition to its campaign in Gaza, Israel has expanded its military operations across the region, targeting sites in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. The Israeli government has also intensified operations in the occupied West Bank, displacing thousands of Palestinians.

On Tuesday, Israeli forces bombed a residential building in Doha where Hamas leaders were reportedly meeting to discuss a ceasefire proposal from US President Donald Trump. At least six people were killed, though Hamas later stated that its top leadership had survived the attack.