Mujahid Asari Dokubo, a prominent Niger Delta activist and former agitator, claimed on Friday in Abuja that the Nigerian Army and Navy are responsible for the majority of oil theft incidents reported in the oil-rich region.
“The military is at the center of oil theft and we have to make this very clear to the Nigerian public that 99 percent of oil theft can be traced to the Nigerian military, the Army and the Navy especially,” Dokubo told State House correspondents after he met President Bola Tinubu behind closed doors at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
He did, however, promise to work with the federal government to make oil theft “zero,” thinking that the Tinubu-led government would “fish out” the guilty military personnel.
The Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative estimated in April that between 2009 and 2020, Nigeria lost 619.7 million barrels of crude oil worth N16.25 trillion to theft.
According to information obtained for the agency’s most recent policy brief, “The cost of fuel subsidy: A case for policy review,” between 2005 and 2021, the nation spent more than N13 trillion ($74 billion) on gasoline subsidies.
Speaking on Friday, Dokubo claimed that his nearly two-hour conversation with the President was framed by security and oil theft.
Nevertheless, the former agitator said he had assured the new administration of his support to ensure “zero” oil theft in the Niger Delta.
He said “Myself and my brothers have assured the President that there will be zero oil theft and vandalization in the Niger Delta.
“We’re going to walk with an NPPCL and the IOCs to make sure that oil tapped is brought to zero.”
On security, he faulted the narrative that the military was underequipped to take on terrorism, banditry and militancy head-on, describing it as “blackmail.”
For Dokubo, “The blackmail of the Nigerian state by the Nigerian military is shameful. They said they do not have enough armament and people listen to these false narratives. So this blackmail must end. They have enough resources to fight.”
According to him, the release of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, will not lessen the strife in the South-East. Instead, it would encourage impunity.
“During EndSars, Nnamdi Kanu was walking free. What did he do? He poured petrol on the flames of EndSars. Now, he has been caught. What of the people who have died? This is a criminal. He should face the law.
“Releasing Nnamdi Kanu is rewarding criminality and rewarding gruesome murder of innocent people. He should face the law for the actions and instigations he has carried out.”
The meeting on Friday is a part of the President’s ongoing discussions with Niger Delta opinion leaders.
The President also had meetings with other influential people from the area last week, including Dr. Dakuku Peterside and Timi Alaibe, a former director-general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency and the former managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission.
The President ordered the military and other security forces to stop oil theft during his first meeting with security chiefs on June 1.
