More stakeholders in the Niger Delta region have condemned and declared their stand against the call for the decentralization of the oil pipeline surveillance contract.
On Tuesday, May 19, 2026, the 21st Century Youths of the Niger Delta and Agitators with Conscience (21st CYNDAC), and the Niger Delta Stakeholders for Accountable Security rejected the call, insisting that the decentralization would destabilize the economy, encourage a system that enriched criminals, and destroy the environment.
Leader of the group, Mr Izon Ebi, in a statement made available to TPCN, urged stakeholders of the region to unite against the decentralization call, noting that Tantita Security Services was delivering results to the region.
His words: “The 21st Century Youths of Niger Delta and Agitators with Conscience ( 21st CYNDAC) condemn in strong terms the politically motivated and bunkering syndicates’ sponsored calls for the decentralisation of the pipeline surveillance contract awarded to Tantita Security Services.
“Tantita is delivering results, that’s why the bunkering syndicates want decentralisation back. The recent statement calling for a return to the so-called “decentralized” pipeline surveillance era is not about the Niger Delta; it’s about protecting the interests of oil bunkering syndicates who lost their grip when accountability returned.
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“We counter it directly because it is driven by jealousy, hatred, and the old bring him down syndrome that punishes our own people for succeeding.
“We, the undersigned stakeholders, youth leaders, and community representatives from across the Niger Delta, issue this statement to reject the recent communiqué calling for the immediate decentralisation of pipeline and oil & gas infrastructure surveillance contracts.
“We respect the right of citizens to voice concerns. But we will not stand silent while the region is pushed back toward a system that enriched criminals, destroyed our environment, and destabilized the economy.”
Izon revealed that, “the containment of the Niger Delta Avengers in 2016 was achieved through the efforts of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, under the leadership of the late elder statesman Pa Edwin Clark. PANDEF leaders went into the creeks to engage the Avengers and secure a ceasefire through dialogue. That was a collective, national effort led by elders across the region.
“The 2011-2015 surveillance model being pushed today is the same system that allowed oil theft to reach industrial scale, with Nigeria losing hundreds of thousands of barrels daily, turning rivers in Delta, Bayelsa, and Rivers into ecological disaster zones, and saw production collapse to 900,000 bpd in 2016 when beneficiaries of the system turned against the state.
“Production briefly hit 2.4-2.5 mbpd, but that was driven by a mix of global oil prices, short-term truces, and PANDEF-led dialogue. When oversight was weak, the structure collapsed.”
He explained that “since 2022, pipeline protection has been run under central coordination by NNPCL and the office of the National Security Adviser, with Tantita Security Services operating under direct oversight of the Nigerian Armed Forces.
The results are verifiable. Over 2,000 illegal refineries were dismantled across the Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa, and Ondo. Crude production rose from 1.1 mbpd in mid-2022 to 1.5-1.7 mbpd in 2025/2026. Waterways are clearing, with communities reporting the return of fishing and reduced surface oil sheen. Contracts are auditable, with KPIs, NSA oversight, and military command. Failure has consequences.”
21st CYNDAC further demanded that pipeline surveillance be kept under NSA/NNPCL command with the armed forces in the lead.
Also, they called for the release of a full audit of pipeline surveillance contracts from 2011-2015, and that a legal framework be created for host communities to provide intelligence and monitoring under military and civil authority.
