What I discussed with Tinubu – Asari Dokubo
Asari Dokubo, a prominent Niger Delta leader, claims that the Nigerian military is responsible for 99 percent of the country’s oil theft.
Dokubo leveled the charge following a Friday office meeting in private with President Bola Tinubu.
He claimed that the President had pledged to look into claims of massive oil bunkering by infamous navy commanders who are kingpins and to take decisive action to put an end to the despicable practice.
Dokubo continued, “There are strong cabals operating from Abuja.” He vowed that these strong forces in place had now met their match, and that shortly, a large crowd will march to Kuje.
He has offered to employ his boys to help and take the required action to stop the bad.
The formerly-leading militant said that ordinary Niger Delta citizens who are often blamed for oil theft are not responsible, as they do not have the wherewithal to perform such sophisticated act of stealing.
According to him, the manner in which the oil thieves have gone about their criminal activities has stripped the people of the Niger Delta of their livelihood, and it is a crime against humanity.
Dokubo also alleged that it is an act of blackmail for the military to say that they have insufficient armaments to deal with insecurity, accusing them of forfeiting their weapons to the insurgents, which continued to fuel the insurgency.
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), 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.