HOSCON Accuses NNPC ‘Cabals’ of Starving Tantita of Funds to Fuel Oil Theft

The Host Communities of Nigeria (HOSCON) Producing Oil & Gas has raised the alarm over an alleged plot by an influential “cabal” within the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) to sabotage the operations of Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited.

In an open letter addressed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, HOSCON warned that certain individuals are deliberately undermining the private security firm’s war against oil theft in the Niger Delta by withholding its operational funds.

The letter, signed by the Chairman of HOSCON, HRM King Monday Whiskey, the Ovie of Idjerhe Kingdom in Delta State, revealed that Tantita staff and subcontractors have not been paid for nearly four months.

HOSCON warned that the development has triggered widespread grumbling and threats of a strike action, which could plunge the region into a fresh security crisis.

According to the oil-producing communities, the move to starve Tantita of funds is a retaliatory tactic by powerful oil thieves who have been blocked from bleeding the nation’s economy.

“Our intelligence from highly placed sources both in Abuja and across the Niger Delta is that since the oil cabals/bunkerers can no longer have their way in stealing crude oil in the region, they have perfected a new approach,” the letter read.

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“They are deliberately starving the authorities of the hardworking Tantita Security Nigeria Limited of regular funding and thus creating unnecessary salary delays.”

HOSCON strongly condemned the development, noting that the immense sacrifices made by Tantita to secure the nation’s critical oil infrastructure are being actively devalued by selfish interests.

The group urged President Tinubu to step in immediately to investigate the funding delays and prevent a total breakdown of order in the region. They emphasized that before Tantita took over pipeline security, the Niger Delta’s ecosystem was in a devastating state due to rampant illegal bunkering.

Warning against a return to the dark days of unchecked oil theft, HOSCON declared that any attempt to disorganized Tantita’s operations would be fiercely resisted by the locals.

“Now that we are fully aware of the antics of the NNPC authorities to deliberately delay payments of services already rendered by Tantita Security Services Ltd… the leadership of HOSCON will keep exposing all the underhand workings against the success of this all-important project,” the body vowed.

HOSCON maintained that the federal government owes it a duty to prioritize sensitive national assignments like Tantita’s operations in its budget allocations, rather than leaving them at the mercy of bureaucratic bottlenecking.

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