The Izon-Ibe Welders and Fitters Association, Delta State Chapter, has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to renew, expand, and give legal backing to Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited's pipeline surveillance contract, assuring that it will help sustain the peace, environmental restoration, and economic stability currently being experienced across the Niger Delta region and Nigeria at large.

The professional body made the appeal in a statement it issued in support of Tantita owned by High Chief Government Ekpemupolo alias Tompolo, and managed by High Chief (Engr.) Kestin Pondi, signed by its Chairman, Chief George Timiyan, JP, with copies made available to the media on Wednesday, April 1, 2026.

The Welders and Fitters Association said its appeal is centered on the clear and positive impact the pipeline surveillance contract currently handled by Tantita is having on host communities, in the oil and gas sector, the environment, and the livelihoods of the people.

According to the Association, as a critical stakeholder that "play essential roles in construction and maintenance of pipelines, filling stations, gas facilities, oil installations, and flow lines," before the advent of Tantita, its unemployed members were victims of illegal activities that resulted in pollution, and at the extreme case, death.

The statement reads in part, "As critical stakeholders in the oil and gas value chain, welders and fitters play essential roles in the construction and maintenance of pipelines, filling stations, gas facilities, oil installations, and flow lines.

"Before the emergence of Tantita, many of our members were unfortunately lured into illegal oil bunkering and pipeline sabotage due to unemployment and lack of opportunities. Some were engaged to cut pipelines, weld illegal connections, fabricate crude storage tanks, and assist in unlawful refining activities.

"This dangerous involvement led to: arrests and long prison sentences for many of our members, fatal fire accidents during illegal refining operations, loss of lives and destruction of families, severe pollution of our rivers and communities, and damage to the Niger Delta ecosystem," it added.

Speaking further, the Association noted that, "However, since the commencement of Tantita’s operations, there has been a remarkable transformation. Today, cases of pipeline vandalism involving our members have drastically reduced, illegal refining activities and related fire disasters have significantly declined, our environment has become cleaner and safer, aquatic life is gradually returning to our rivers, peace has returned to many oil-producing communities, and many former offenders now have legitimate means of livelihood through security and surveillance jobs," it revealed.

The Welders and Fitters Association said the impacts of Tantita are visible for all to see, stressing that "residents can now move freely within their communities without fear, and the environment is noticeably healthier than before as cases of pollution occasioned by pipeline vandalism has been reduced to the barest minimum, if not totally eliminated."

Chief Timiyan, who said the Association's appeal also represents the voice of the "people of the creeks, the villages, the towns, and the oil-producing communities who are directly witnessing the benefits of this initiative," urged President Tinubu "not to allow selfish interests or misleading advice from a few individuals to disrupt a program that is clearly serving national interest" but to "listen once again to the voices of the people and do the needful by ensuring that this impactful initiative continues for the greater peace and progress of Nigeria."

The Association's call once again highlights the gains of Tantita's involvement in the safeguarding of oil assets in the Niger Delta region and why the federal government should continue to adopt the current model.

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