Rakiya A. Muhammad
Nigeria, a leading African oil producer with vast crude oil reserves, also harbours a clandestine world. Illicitly obtained crude oil fuels criminal organisations—sophisticated syndicates orchestrate operations from the shadows.
Millions of barrels disappear yearly—stolen, smuggled, and traded illegally.
A Senate Ad hoc Committee estimates Nigeria lost $300 billion in natural resource revenue between 2015 and 2025 due to crude oil theft in the Niger Delta.
Syndicates exploit hidden routes from riverbanks to busy ports, burying pipelines and using secret storage to evade detection. Their constant ingenuity makes detection a continuous challenge, requiring ongoing adaptation.
An individual was uncovered with a crude oil stash five times larger than an Olympic swimming pool—every drop ready for sale on the black market.
Another example involves vandals constructing concealed canals adjacent to major pipelines over several kilometres. These individuals siphon crude oil into hidden storage facilities within the bush. When pipelines are pressurised, they strategically access and redirect the flow into their own reserves.
Also uncovered is an illegal pipeline stretching over five kilometres—the longest ever discovered by security forces. It feeds oil to waiting ships day and night. For nine years, this hidden artery bled Nigeria’s wealth, drop by drop.
Importantly, these activities are not mere figments of imagination. Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited (TSSNL), the security firm commissioned by the Government of Nigeria to patrol over 2,000 kilometres of pipeline along the oil-producing coast, has exposed these illicit operations.
Tantita’s exposure of these organised networks underscores both the alarming scale of oil theft and the firm’s strategic role in Nigeria’s fight for resource integrity.
“We began with feasibility studies. We understood the problem, but its true scale only became clear from aerial views,” says Executive Director of Operations and Technical Captain Warredi Enisuoh.
“Even from space, you can see the damage done. This is satellite imagery, not from an aeroplane. Anywhere in the world, with satellite access, you can see what is happening in Nigeria.”
In one Bayelsa community, investigations revealed crude oil flowing openly, and individuals, including men, women, and children, openly participating in the trade of stolen oil—displaying little regard for the presence of law enforcement.
In another scene, bags full of crude oil saturate the area. An undercover buyer finds sellers who time their pipeline breaches perfectly. Oil is sold by the bucket—each bag part of the stolen haul.
Vehicles frequently arrive by land and water to collect these bags. At a glance, the packages resemble agricultural produce drifting along the rivers of the Niger Delta; however, each bag contains crude oil.
Occasionally, the perpetrators transfer these bags to local farmers—often women—who transport them by bicycle. To a casual observer, these loads may appear to be agricultural products. In reality, they contain crude oil.
Similarly, tricycles transport branded bags. Externally, these may seem to hold sugar or groceries, but each bag actually contains crude oil for surreptitious movement.
Sometimes, thousands of these bags are ferried to the river mouth. There, they are loaded into GP tanks and spirited away to destinations as far as Cameroon.
The cycle is relentless: as old tactics are uncovered, perpetrators innovate, maintaining oil theft as an ongoing contest that challenges Nigeria’s economic security.
On the East-West Road, trucks disguised as food carriers are a common sight. Open the back, and instead of produce, you find bags of crude oil. Most of these trucks travel without number plates. They vanish into anonymity.
One truck posed as a fertiliser carrier. Beneath the sacks was a hidden tank brimming with crude oil, with a specially modified discharge valve for quick offloading.
Some boat owners head straight to the wellheads. They uncouple the valves and pump crude oil into waiting canoes. They time their return for when the canoes are full. But the rush often leads to spills—leaving pollution in their wake.
In another instance, illegal operators uncoupled a wellhead at sea. They were negotiating with Ghanaian buyers. There was disagreement about whether it was water or oil. This led to valuable intelligence. One of the ships that frequently breached Nigeria’s exclusive economic zone to steal oil, the Turatu, was among the first intercepted.
Sometimes, these syndicates convince communities to break pipelines. Then, they arrive disguised as government cleaners. Under the guise of repair, they siphon off the oil and disappear.
Just when pipelines seem secure, the thieves turn to gas lines. They use the venturi effect and tap the pipeline. High-speed gas cools and liquefies, creating its own illegal supply of liquefied natural gas.
Intersection of organised crime, technological innovation
As security efforts intensify, so does the contest: organised criminals leverage advanced technology, keeping pace in a high-stakes struggle to safeguard the nation’s resources.
Now, knowing Tantita’s reach, the crude oil thieves plant CCTV cameras deep in the bush for early warnings. Their command centres bristle with local missile launchers. These are ready to strike at any aerial threat.
To counter these new threats, Captain Enisuoh reveals they have also raised their game. The security team continues to push innovation to keep pace with oil thieves’ evolving tactics, ensuring the struggle remains finely balanced.
Deploying advanced technology was imperative, but finding suitable equipment domestically proved challenging. Enisuoh recalls that even with funds, the acquisition faced resistance as some foreign refineries are reportedly involved in the use of stolen Nigerian oil.
Despite setbacks, objectives were achieved. Tantita now has a large private drone fleet and leverages an advanced technology arsenal for its mission.
Modern drones, capable of operating for up to 24 hours, enable rapid deployment and expand the operational scope against oil thieves. Drones can even be launched from vans converted into mobile command centres. These drones send real-time intelligence back to headquarters from anywhere in the field.
With night vision capability, ships once hidden by darkness can no longer evade detection.
Drone technology helped catch illegal dealers at the Sangana platform, south of Bayelsa. Its oil is naturally refined and can be used straight in car engines. Thieves flock there, unaware that drones watch from above.
To avoid detection, thieves turned to using gas in illegal refineries instead of burning wood or oil. Yet drones, adapting just as quickly, still pick up the signs and alert authorities.
Captain Enisuoh observes that the use of drones has enhanced operational safety in efforts to combat oil theft. He recounts a local community member who was employed by them. Despite receiving pay, he was still engaged in illicit activities. He was caught fleeing into the bush after being detected by drones, trying to avoid identification.
But the danger is real. The suspect was armed and ready to fire. Accomplices lay in wait at different locations, rifles at the ready for an ambush.
Fortunately, with the drone, they could caution security teams to avoid routes where ambushes by armed gangs awaited.
Oil theft is not limited to the surface—thieves now operate underwater. In response, the TSSNL team deployed underwater drones to patrol rivers and seas alike.
Progress in Numbers
Stakeholders attribute collaboration among private surveillance, security agencies, and community engagement to achievements in the fight against pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft.
Dr Ahmed Abubakar Audi, Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, highlights a more than 40 per cent drop in pipeline vandalism compared to previous years.
He adds that they have discovered and destroyed 60 per cent more illegal refining sites. This has disrupted the networks at an unprecedented rate.
He points to a new digital command and control centre on the Niger Delta that monitors hydrocarbon activity, vessel movements, and pipeline integrity in real time, describing it as a game-changer in the fight against oil theft.
But Dr Audi underscores the need to increase funding for their operations, ensure policies that promote technology adoption, strengthen oversight of energy security initiatives, and facilitate legal reforms to enable speedy prosecution, such as establishing special courts for energy-related crimes and strengthening penalties to deter offenders.
Also ,progress made so far in the fight against crude reflects in the 2026 quarter review of Operation Delta Sentinel, a Nigerian Navy operation against oil theft,which shows over 183 successful operations across key operational areas, resulting in the recovery of 531,500 litres of illegally refined petroleum products and the arrest of 18 suspects linked to crude oil theft and related maritime crime.
The Navy also destroyed 12 illegal refinery sites,4 storage facilities, three vessels/boats and two wellhead and pipeline connections.
Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission data reveal Nigeria’s oil losses have steadily declined since 2021. That year, the country lost a staggering 37.6 million barrels, averaging 102,900 barrels per day. By 2022, losses dropped to 20.9 million barrels at 57,200 barrels per day. The downward trend continued in 2023 with just 4.3 million barrels lost, and in 2024, the figure dipped even further to 4.1 million barrels, averaging 11,300 barrels per day. The NUPRC credits this remarkable progress to the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act in 2021, ongoing collaboration with security agencies, operators, and local communities, and the introduction of targeted regulatory measures to seal systemic loopholes.
Positive signal in oil Output
To illustrate the gains in oil production and advances against oil thieves, Captain Enisuoh takes us on a journey through the recent past, highlighting key events that shaped these outcomes and set the stage for the present fight.
In 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown, Nigeria’s oil production peaked. Captain Enisuoh cites this as proof that when people stayed home, oil theft plummeted.
When lockdowns were lifted in 2021, daily life resumed, and oil production fell. This further showed the impact of theft on the industry. By 2022, production plunged even further. Old problems resurfaced as conditions changed.
The August 2022 security contract marked a decisive moment, strengthening protection of vital oil and gas infrastructure and shaping a more secure future for the nation’s energy sector.
Supporting this account, figures show Nigeria’s daily oil output dropped from 1.8 million barrels in 2020 to 1.6 million in 2021, then to just 1.1 million in 2022.
Given these declines, Captain Enisuoh emphasises that without government intervention, the nation’s economy would have been in jeopardy.
Previously, Nigeria had not surpassed its 2020 production levels; now, for the first time, it reached 1.84 million barrels per day last month, according to Captain Enisuoh.
Although successes have been achieved, these victories have come at a heavy price. Courageous officers have fallen; their commitment and expertise have been lost in the unyielding battle against oil theft.
Last year alone, 15 civil defence officers reportedly lost their lives—proof that this is no easy battle, but one fought with courage and sacrifice.
Imperative to Enhance Momentum
Yet, even with the successes, the persistence of economic saboteurs—evident in the Navy’s recent capture of two vessels carrying suspected stolen crude worth over N4 billion—demonstrates that Nigeria’s vital resources remain at risk and calls for even greater vigilance.
Stakeholders from Niger Delta host communities are calling for decentralised pipeline surveillance, arguing that inclusion is essential for lasting results and will greatly enhance security outcomes.
Emmanuel Bie, President of the Ogoni Youth Federation, maintains that decentralisation will foster transparency, curb corruption linked to centralised contracts, and reduce conflicts among communities by ensuring fair representation.
For him,directly involving host communities would build a sense of ownership, reduce sabotage, and boost accountability, as people are more inclined to protect infrastructure that serves their interests.
Alaye Tari Theophilus, President of the Ijaw Youth Congress Worldwide, also argues that decentralisation would enable quicker responses to security breaches, reduce bureaucratic delays, and strengthen grassroots intelligence gathering across oil-producing regions.
However, their views contrast with those of High Chief (Engr.) Kestin Ebimorbowie Pondi, Managing Director of TSSN. He cautions that fragmenting the surveillance process would be counterproductive and could set back their progress, something he believes must be avoided.
The MD explains that decentralisation has already been achieved through contract awards across all areas, emphasising that the operation could not have succeeded without the involvement of every stakeholder community.
He adds that at Tantita, ‘we do not protect the asset from the people, we protect the asset with the people’, stressing that this has given them the results they have earned to date.
Citing the documented interception of illegal vessels, dismantling of illicit connections, and the arrest of hundreds of suspected vandals and oil thieves, the National Assembly Joint Committee on Petroleum Resources has voiced strong support for Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited and the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited in their mission to secure pipelines and combat crude theft.
Stakeholders concur that safeguarding critical petroleum infrastructure requires a coordinated approach that utilises reliable intelligence, strong political commitment, and comprehensive engagement across all sectors.
They emphasise that as Nigeria confronts formidable and intricate threats, the nation’s energy future depends on courageous steps: passing stronger laws, increasing resources to strengthen the fight, upgrading operations, and rallying around an ambitious, technology-powered national vision.
