...As Stakeholders Push for Decentralised Pipeline Security to Improve Accountability

Prominent legal practitioner Barrister Darlington has voiced strong opposition to the federal government’s handling of petroleum security, refusing to celebrate any industry achievements until systemic corruption and opacity are thoroughly addressed.

At the heart of the lawyer's grievance is the federal government’s decision to award high-value pipeline protection contracts to former militant leader Government Ekpemupolo, widely known as Tompolo. 

Darlington questioned the wisdom and ethics behind trusting key national infrastructure to individuals with past legal entanglements and outstanding charges.

"Ask yourself, why is a fugitive manning your pipeline? Tompolo is a wanted person up to tomorrow," Darlington declared. 

"The sentencing in absentia, and the federal government, in their own wisdom, will contract such a person to be manning your oil industry and the pipelines."

Darlington warned the Nigerian public against believing that illegal operations in the Niger Delta have ceased, asserting that citizens are being kept in the dark regarding the reality on the ground and that full transparency remains impossible under current arrangements.

"And you think that he will not go back to business, have you? They are not giving you full disclosure of what is going on there. It can never be. As long as you get such a person in that contract, he will not give you full disclosure," he stated.

He further alleged that large-scale oil theft remains active despite official assurances.

"Stealing is still going on. Between him and nature and every other person involved, it is still going on up to tomorrow. Until we clean up that industry, we will never get full value of our oil industry. We will never get full value. So I don't want to celebrate it.

They are bringing, what are they bringing? There is no full disclosure."

Compounding the controversy surrounding these pipeline surveillance operations are escalating reports and allegations from community members and rights advocates. 

Beyond concerns over crude theft and financial opacity, a series of grave allegations have emerged accusing him of running a private prison system in the region. 

These claims include instances of kidnapping, unauthorized detentions without trial, severe human rights abuses against local residents, and other numerous actions characterized by critics as potential crimes against humanity.

Community leaders, stakeholders, and youth groups across the Niger Delta states are calling on the Federal Government to decentralize the pipeline surveillance contract to put an end to the alleged atrocities being carried out by Tompolo and his group. 

They maintain that breaking up this single, centralized arrangement is essential to restoring peace, safeguarding national security, and ensuring transparency, efficiency, and effectiveness in guarding critical energy assets.

Other advocates argue that the current centralized model has ultimately failed the nation and that distributing these responsibilities across the region is the only viable path forward. 

Decentralizing the contracts, they emphasize, will foster accountability, protect human rights, and significantly boost Nigeria’s overall crude oil production.