Ijaw Leaders in Kou Clan Endorse Tantita Pipeline Surveillance Contract, Call on FG to Ignore Detractors

By Ezekiel Kagbala 

Ijaw leaders in the Kou Clan coastal Communities, Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State, have voiced strong support for the ongoing oil pipeline surveillance contract awarded to Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited (TSSNL). In a recent statement, they urged the Federal Government to disregard calls from various groups advocating for the cancellation of the contract, labeling such demands as unpatriotic and self-serving.

Kou Clan coastal Communities leaders said it "received with great displeasure" the call by the Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to remove the pipeline surveillance contract awarded to Tantita Security Services on Urhobo territory and warned the UPU against "whipping up of the already existing tension in Warri and environs".

This was contained in a statement jointly signed by  Chief Patrick O. Irou Kou Clan National chairman, Comrade IGBALA GODDAY chairman Okibou community, Comrade Matthew Wurutuawei Kou Clan  Seepco GMoU chairman, General Amos Okosuwei deputy commander Vigilante Group of Nigeria, Burutu chapter. Comrade Julius Zibaye Opinion leader, Elder  Anthony Zerediowei and 
General Victor Ikeyouzigha
 copies of which were made available to journalists in Warri on Wednesday.

The statement noted that "the the people of Kou  Clan coastal communities  are not only disappointed by this display of ungratefulness by the UPU and its leadership". 

"We are disappointed that the UPU have lost value and credibility and should not be taken seriously", the group stated.

The leaders of Kou Clan coastal Communities in Buruntu LGA Delta State charged Tantita to "remain resolute in its course to sustain the fight against oil theft, illegal oil bunkering, and its all-around impactful Corporate Social Responsibilities approach".

The statement partly reads, " The contract awarded to Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited (TSSNL), by the Federal Government was not to enrich individuals, but to serve the country and protect its Oil wealth for the benefit of the  nation

The group berated the leadership of Urhobo Progress Union (UPU) led by Chief Ese Gam for calling for the rejection of Tantita Security Services in charge of the pipeline surveillance contract in the area, describing that call as "unguided, misleading, and a betrayal of development in the State and the country at large".