General asks Military to report Asari Dokubo to police, DSS for investigations
Allegations by Niger Delta ex-militant leader, Alhaji Mujahid Asari Dokubo, that the Nigerian Army, Navy and some cabals are behind 99 percent of the oil theft in the country have been described as too weighty not to be taken serious by the government because, by the context of their passage, they are a breach of national security.
Dokubo made the allegations after an audience with President Bola Tinubu in State House, Abuja on Friday, stating that the President had promised to investigate allegations of huge oil bunkering by notorious naval commanders that are kingpins, and promised to take decisive action to halt the shameful act.
He added that there are powerful cabals operating from Abuja, vowing that these powerful forces in place have now met their match and many people would soon be marching to Kuje as, according to the ex-militant, he has volunteered to use his boys to assist and do the necessary to halt the evil.
Reacting to the development, a retired member of the Nigerian Armed Forces Complex and Minister of Communications, Major General Tajudeen Olanrewaju, rose to the challenge by calling on the Armed Forces to report Asari Dokubo to the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) and the Department of State Services (DSS) for them to, respectively, invite him to divulge all that he knows so records will be set straight.
The former General Officer Commanding (GOC), Third Armoured Division of the Nigerian Army, said the allegations look more like an attempt to bring down the military and make militancy popular in the eyes of the people.
He said it should not be heard that an Asari Dokubo and his boys were able to carry arms and now boasting around to be behind the success against insecurity of terrorists and bandits on Abuja-Kaduna axis, Niger State and across the Niger Delta, while putting the military up as liars for laying claims to same.
“This is a cheap political blackmail. Dokubo should be directed by the President to provide whatever evidence is available to him to the security services. An individual like Dokubo cannot eat his cake and have it. He’s now the complainant, jury, and court.
“He has taken an open criticism of the entire security services and has whitewashed them in the public. The accusations are strong and grimmed enough to be thoroughly investigated through a commission of inquiry and steps taken accordingly.
“This man is playing to the gallery without proof of evidence, and so, he should not be treated lightly. It is in the interest of Mr. President to act on his open denigrating of his Armed forces as the Commander-in-Chief.
“This man goes about with armed men approved by the federal government, and whereas states that have security outfits (e.g. Amotekun) were denied from doing so.
“This kind of double standard has no place in today’s political setting. Gen Abisoye’s NNPC Report & My Review (1993 -95) had taken care of these lapses, but the government ignored them.”
In October last year, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, vowed to investigate oil theft activities in the Niger Delta.
General Irabor made the vow when he alongside the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mallam Mele Kyari, visited scene of the illegal insertions at the Trans-Escravos pipeline in the Yokiri area of Delta State.
“This is an eye-opener and I’m glad that I’ve come here,” the General said. “This is really very sad and 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,” he had said.
Media platforms, earlier, had reported the counter-statement from the Nigerian Navy challenging Asari Dokubo to mention names of those involved in such an act, if he was saying the truth.
It gave this challenge hours after the accusation, through its Director of Naval Information, Commodore Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan, claiming that the Niger Delta leader was only trying to court the favour of President Tinubu with such allegations.
“If Asari Dokubo is seeking some form of relevance and alleges that there is a cabal of military people that are involved in crude oil theft, let him bring the names. Nobody is afraid of getting the names of those involved in crude oil theft,” the naval spokesman reportedly told Channels Television on the phone.
According to him, the Nigerian Navy has through its Operation ‘Dakata da Barawo’ recorded tremendous successes in the fight against oil theft in the Niger Delta region.
He cited the recent arrest of a ship, Heroic Edun, that entered Nigeria illegally and the court fines imposed on the owners of the ship as evidence of the Nigerian Navy’s desire to combat crude oil theft.
The spokesman further listed other achievements of the Nigerian Navy – recorded between April 1, 2022, and June 12, 2023 – to include the arrest of 131 suspects, 17 vessels, destruction of 519 illegal mining sites, deactivation of 4,261 storage tanks with 569 wooden boats and demobilisation of 69 vehicles.
He noted that through the efforts of the Navy, oil thieves were denied over 116.9 million litres of crude oil, 45.1 million litres of refined diesel, and 2.4 million litres of kerosene as well as over 372,000 litres of premium motor spirit, all worth more than N71.8 billion based on the current prices.
“The Nigerian Navy is actively involved in the fight against crude oil theft and the resources in the Niger Delta. So, for anybody to say that there is a cabal of military officers, the only simple thing is to bring the evidence, bring the names. I rest my case,” Ayo-Vaughan maintained.
However, General Olanrewaju said the Armed Forces should go steps beyond the Navy’s challenging Dokubo to name anyone but go ahead to report him to the police and DSS to be invited and let him provide all that he knows and be investigated. To bring down the military’s credibility will be the costliest mistake that anybody will do and this must not be allowed, he said.
