Former Nigerian militant commander of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, Government Ekpemupolo, who is better known as Tompolo, has discovered another illegal crude oil pipeline in Delta State.
The pipeline was attached to the 48-inch Trans Forcados Export Trunkline in Burutu Local Government Area.
The federal government recently awarded a multi-billion naira pipeline protection contract to Tompolo’s Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited.
A source close to Tantita told GbaramatuVoice that the latest illegal pipeline found this week was behind a military security post.
The location is less than a kilometer from the Forcados Export Terminal in the Ogulagha community.
The line also links to another abandoned pipeline within the defunct AGIP Petroleum Company Limited.
The oil bunkerers were said to have used the AGIP abandoned facility to ferry the crude to the sea for loading and movement out of Nigeria.
The Forcados Trunkline has a capacity to export about 400,000 barrels per day.
It is supplied by the Forcados Oil Pipeline System, the second largest pipeline in the Niger Delta after the Bonny Oil Pipeline System.
Last week, Tompolo announced that 58 illegal oil points had been discovered since the operation started in Delta and Bayelsa states.
The former Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) leader also accused the Nigerian Army and Nigerian Navy of protecting oil thieves.