ABUJA, Nigeria – Prominent Niger Delta warlord and Ijaw nation activist, Asari Dokubo, has levelled severe accusations against the Nigerian military, claiming they are responsible for 99% of oil theft in the country.
Dokubo made the allegations following a private meeting with President Bola Tinubu in his office on Friday, June 16, 2023.
He asserts that the President has pledged to investigate accusations of extensive oil bunkering led by notorious naval commanders, who he referred to as “kingpins.”
The president reportedly also promised decisive action to halt this alleged activity.
The Niger Delta leader warned of powerful cabals operating from Abuja, vowing that these forces “have now met their match” and that their days are numbered.
He further volunteered to use his own forces to assist in curbing this criminal activity.
In a sweeping defense of the Niger Delta citizens, Dokubo argued that they are not to blame for oil theft, as they lack the means to carry out such sophisticated operations.
He emphasised that the purported oil theft is a grave crime against the people of the Niger Delta, robbing them of their livelihood and constituting a crime against humanity.
He went further to question the military’s narrative of being inadequately armed to combat insecurity, accusing them of abandoning their weapons to insurgents, thereby exacerbating the ongoing insurgency.
In a related development, General Lucky Irabor, the Chief of Defence Staff, promised to investigate oil theft activities in the Niger Delta in October last year.
His commitment came during a visit to the scene of illegal insertions at the Trans-Escravos pipeline in the Yokiri area of Delta State, alongside Mele Kyari, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) CEO.
Irabor described the visit as an eye-opener and expressed his sadness at the situation, vowing, “we are going to get to the root of it all. There will be an investigation that will go through the entire length of the chain to establish who did this and how long it has been, among several other issues.”
