99% of oil theft carried out by army, navy — Dokubo tells Tinubu

Alhaji Asari Dokubu, leader of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force NDVF and former Niger Delta agitator, said on Friday that the army and navy were responsible for 99 percent of oil theft in the country. Dokubo made the claim after meeting with President Bola Tinubu behind closed doors at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The former agitator, who refuted claims that people from the oil-rich region were involved in oil theft and pipeline vandalism, said that those perpetuating oil bunkering in the Niger Delta region are powerful cabals with an entitlement attitude, most of whom operate from Abuja.

He argued that ordinary Niger Delta citizens, who are often blamed for these criminal activities, are not responsible because they lack the means to steal, citing ‘notorious’ Army and Naval oil kingpins who have engaged in unprecedented crude oil theft in the last eight years.

He stated that the way the oil thieves conducted their illegal activities has deprived the people of the Niger Delta of their livelihood, calling it a crime against humanity.

Dokubo told State House media following the meeting that he came to offer words of encouragement to the President for his actions and pronouncements since he assumed office.

According to him, “The president is a fatherly figure to me. Our relationship spans over 30 years. I came here today to give words of encouragement to the President for the actions and policies so far made in this less than three weeks of governing a very difficult country like Nigeria.

“We discussed a wide range of issues, especially on security and oil theft in the Niger Delta. Myself and my brothers have assured the President that there would be zero oil theft and vandalization in the Niger Delta. We’re going to work with an NNPCL and the IOCs to make sure that oil theft is brought to zero.

“I also want to say that oil theft is encouraged by the military. The military is at the centre of oil theft and we have to make this very clear to the Nigerian public. 99 per cent of oil theft can be traced to the Nigerian military, the army and the navy especially.

“The Army and the Navy intimidate the Civil Defence, who are by status, the people who are supposed to guard these pipelines.
They receive a lot of money from NNPCL and the IOCs and just across the corner, you will see a houseboat, a few meters from the houseboat, you will see an oil bunkering refinery or tapping directly from oil well.