Tompolo Wins A Multi-Billion Pipeline Protection Contract 

The new agreement was negotiated by the Group Executive Director, Upstream, Adokiye Tombomelye of the NNPC, and the Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva.

By Omotayo Olutekunbi

Government Ekpemupolo, aka Tompolo, a former militant commander and commander of the disbanded Movement for Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), has been awarded a multimillion-dollar pipeline surveillance contract extension by the federal government.

According to information obtained, the agreement with Tompolo was signed by the government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited in order to stop illegal bunkering, illegal refining, and other types of oil theft in the Niger Delta.

The deal, according to a confidential source close to Tompolo, is worth more than N4 billion per month.

However, at the time of publication, neither the cost nor the specifics of the contract could be officially confirmed.

According to the source, the former commander of MEND, renowned for his creek credibility, will keep an eye on and supervise all other surveillance contracts, contractors, and their activities throughout the entire Niger Delta.

He stated that it was a similar function to what Diezani Alison-Madueke, the petroleum minister under the previous administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, had performed for Tompolo.

“The government merely reviewed and restored his old contract.

“Before the cancellation of his contract, the arrangements he put in place tackled illegal bunkering and increased production quota to over two million barrels per day.

“But the new government canceled the contract, declared him wanted and he was later exonerated of all wrongdoings

“They have realized the need to bring him back because currently, the country is losing over 500,000 barrels per day to illegal bunkering”, he said.

According to the source, the new agreement was negotiated by the Group Executive Director, Upstream, Adokiye Tombomelye of the NNPC, and the Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva.

As a new profitable business, NNPC, he claimed, was determined to stop all illegal activities that were negatively impacting its operations and causing it to lose money each month.

The report says that on Wednesday, Tompolo hosted a significant stakeholders’ gathering at his Oporoza country home in the Gbaramatu Kingdom, Delta State.