False Claims By UPU On Tantita: Niger Delta Groups Tackle Urhobo Union Over Call for Tompolo’s Exit
…Says Tantita is a National Asset, Not a Threat
By. Wilson Macaulay;
The Coalition of Niger Delta Civil Organizations (CNDCO) has strongly criticized a recent press statement attributed to a factional President of the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), which called for the removal of Tantita Security Services from Urhobo territories.
The CNDCO described this call as a “self-serving misrepresentation” of Urhobo and Niger Delta interests, emphasizing that it does not reflect the collective will of the Urhobo people or the broader Niger Delta community.
Several Urhobo groups and youth professionals have also rejected the UPU faction’s position, affirming that Tantita Security Services employs thousands of Urhobo indigenes across numerous communities and kingdoms, and plays a vital role in protecting critical oil infrastructure in the region.
They argue that the contract awarded to Tantita was based on competence and open bidding, not ethnicity, and that Tantita’s operations have significantly reduced oil theft and environmental degradation in Urhoboland.
Moreover, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), representing the ethnic group of Tantita’s owner, former militant leader Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo), condemned the UPU’s call as immature and an attempt to whip up ethnic tensions.
The IYC stressed that the contract was awarded on merit and urged the UPU to uphold unity and good neighborliness rather than stoke division.
The coalition, which comprises youth bodies, civil society advocates, pipeline host communities, and traditional institutions from Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Edo, and Akwa Ibom States, said the call was “misguided, divisive, and a threat to national security and economic progress.”
In a strongly worded statement made available to Daily independent Newspaper yesterday, the CNDCO expressed “deep disappointment and alarm” over the UPU’s stance, stressing that Tantita Security Services, under the leadership of High Chief Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo), has been instrumental in restoring sanity to Nigeria’s crude oil production landscape.
> “Tantita is not merely a private firm — it is a strategic national asset,” the coalition stated. “Since its engagement, oil theft has drastically reduced, production benchmarks have improved, and Nigeria’s economy is gradually recovering from years of sabotage and underperformance.”
Highlighting the success of Tantita’s operations, the group noted that the firm has achieved what several years of military and conventional security efforts failed to accomplish.
“Tantita’s community-based intelligence, deep-rooted presence in the creeks, and proactive surveillance systems have restored investor confidence and supported budgetary stability,” the coalition added.
“It has also provided thousands of direct and indirect jobs to Niger Delta youths, reducing militancy and crime.”
Reacting to the UPU’s statement, the CNDCO emphasized that the controversial call does not represent the collective voice of the Urhobo nation.
> “The UPU President who issued that statement does not speak for the broader Urhobo interest, especially those in oil-bearing communities who understand and appreciate Tantita’s work,” the statement said.
> “The UPU must rise above personal or political agendas and avoid being used to destabilize the region.”
‘We Stand with Tantita’
The coalition reaffirmed its solidarity with Tantita Security Services, stating:
1. We reject in totality the call for the withdrawal of Tantita from Urhobo or any Niger Delta territory.
2. We advise political actors against using ethnic platforms to advance private grievances at the expense of regional security and national progress.
3. We call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) to continue supporting Tantita and expand its mandate across other critical oil corridors.
> “Tantita represents a tested and proven model of indigenous participation in national security and resource protection,” the coalition concluded.
