…Arrests made with support from Office of National Security Adviser
…As FIRS attributes revenue surge to pipeline protection in Niger Delta
Frequent attacks in the past on the Trans-Niger Pipeline (TNP) that delivers 180,000 liquid product to Bonny export terminal led to its total shutdown of the line from June to October 2022, leading to loss of huge revenue to Nigeria for the period.
The oil major in charge was said to have spent in hundreds of millions of Dollars to rehabilitate it.
In recent years, the FG has launched very serious measures to protect the pipelines (including the Nembe trunk that also goes to Bonny and the line that goes to Escravos near Warri).
The move has led to surge in oil revenue. Now, attempt to attack the TNP in a part of Rivers State has led to ‘swift’ arrests. The arrests were said to be with collaboration community and support from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
This is as the pipeline protection company in charge of the eastern corridor has welcomed recent commendations by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) which said near zero infractions on oil pipelines were responsible for boost in revenue.
The failed attack on the TNP allegedly took place in Bodo, Gokana LGA of Rivers State, South-South Nigeria.
Report from the Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL) which polices the eastern corridor of Rivers, Bayelsa, Imo, and Abia States indicated that the culprits were swiftly apprehended due to strong community resistance, with support from ONSA.
PINL officials expressed joy that the Federal Government has announced that for the first time in many years, it has met the oil and gas sector revenue benchmark for year 2025.
The announcement by the FG was made by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) which attributed the milestone to a sustained peace in the Niger Delta region championed by operations of security agencies and pipeline surveillance contractors like Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited PINL, among others.
Spokesman for FIRS Executive Chairman Dare Adekanmbi confirmed the development in a statement on Wednesday, August 13, 2025
According to the statement, the Chairman, Zacch Adedeji, made the statement when he received the delegation of military top brass led by Christopher Musa, a General and Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).
Adedeji had noted that the improved security situation in oil-producing areas had boosted production, resulting in greater profitability for companies in the sector and higher tax revenue for the federation.
“The coordinating director of the Large Tax Group made a presentation at our management meeting today on tax collection to date, and I am glad to say that, for the first time in a long while, we met our oil and gas target,” Adedeji said.
“This is actually as a result of the peace that has been maintained where oil and gas facilities are located. Production is happening, and companies are making more profit from it.”
He commended the Armed Forces and other security agencies for their contribution to maintaining stability, noting that the success aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to “taxing prosperity and not poverty.”
Prosperity can only be achieved in an atmosphere of peace; the Armed Forces are critical stakeholders and central to sustaining peace in the country,” he said.
Akpos Mezeh, General Manager, Community and Stakeholders Relations of PINL, at a monthly engagement with pipeline host communities from eastern corridor held in Port Harcourt, acknowledged that it’s activities contributed to the attainment of the nation’s oil revenue target.
Mezeh attributed the success to what he termed robust partnership between the company and its host communities, and the consistent application of proven strategies by the company.
He said: “PINL recorded zero infraction in the past month contributing to increased national crude oil production. Federal Government has met its 2025 oil and gas sector revenue due to peace and stability in the communities hosting oil and gas facilities in the Niger Delta, which the Chairman of FIRS has confirmed.
“These results underscore the strength and effectiveness of our partnership, which can be attributed to consistent application of proven strategies such as safety measures for surveillance personnel, timely salary payments,
rapid dispute resolution within communities, amongst others, which combined efforts have resulted in reduced downtime and increased trust”.
He announced some of the company’s achievements including interventions in an oil spill location in Yorla, Kpean community in Khana Local government area and bursting of illegal bunkering sites in Umubule and Oyigbo communities both in Rivers State.
Mezeh used the medium to update the stakeholders on its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) packages for youths and women of the host communities.
He, however, reiterated PINL’s commitment to sustainable energy security in the country, calling for support from all stakeholders.
“We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to sustainable energy security, in full alignment with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Federal Government. We have a shared responsibility to rescue our economy from further bleeding, and achieving this goal requires that all hands remain on deck.
“We look forward to your honest and constructive feedback on how we can sustain and surpass our outstanding records in combating pipeline vandalism, oil theft, and environmental pollution,” he said.
Speaking at the stakeholders meeting, Akponine Omojevwe, Head of Field Operations, Eastern Corridor of the Project Monitoring Office, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), called for effective collaboration between the host communities and PINL.
He noted that for the progress already achieved in the sector to be sustained stakeholders and host communities must synergize with the surveillance company.
“PINL has gone the extra mile by approving scholarships for the host communities, they have gone out to make sure their areas of operations benefit from their activities, let us make sure that in this task of securing the pipelines, we support them, don’t destroy their equipment,” he urged.
Meanwhile, the collaborative security is operations between PINL and the Special Prosecution Task Force (SPT) of the Federal Government have led to the busting of two illegal refining sites in Oyigbo local government area of Rivers State.
The sites operating under the cover of a logistics company, Emekus Nigeria Ltd, and a large piggery used for active illegal refining of millions of litres of stolen petroleum products with equipment of the illegal business found on the sites.
While Emekus Nigeria Limited is located at Umuebule axis of Oyigbo, the piggery is located at a remote axis, east of the bank of the Imo River. Bags of stolen crude awaiting refining, 3 tanks of different capacities and a 33,000-litre capacity truck, among others were confiscated by the surveillance company.
During the inspection of the piggery led by Omar Sini, Head of Investigation Special Prosecution Team of the Inter-Agency Task force on the Hydrocarbon Sector, a suspect, believed to be the farm manager, took to his heels when he sited the team approaching the farm.
Andrew Ebikeme of PINL explained how the discovery was made; “This is an illegal refining site with products from stolen crude. The area was discovered using intelligence information provided by PINL community based surveillance guards.
“We came here and what we saw was mind boggling. As you can see, this is supposed to be a logistics base but behind we have this illegal activity going on. Right now this has been confiscated by the special prosecution team”.
He stated that to be able to make the discovery, PINL had maintained a healthy and cordial working relationship with the SPT and all other stakeholders on the protection of the nation’s oil assets including different strata of the host communities.
On his part, Sini, a chief superintendent of police (CSP), confirmed the illegal refining sites were busted relying on credible intelligence from PINL surveillance officers.
He said that three suspects – a woman and 2 other accomplices – were arrested at Emekus Nigeria Ltd and would be prosecuted immediately investigations were concluded.
He added that about 108 suspects were already remanded across the Niger Delta and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Sini stated that the SPT had secured two convictions with 38 active cases at trial levels and others at investigation level.
He also confirmed that 60,000 liters of stolen products were contained in sacks inside a section of the premises of Emekus Nigeria Limited.
He also explained that the SPT was able to discover the piggery by intelligence information from PINL stressing that the location of the piggery was so remote that it could only take the help of a drone to be located.
