16th June, 2023
A Niger Delta militants’ leader and former agitator, Mujahid Asari Dokubo has told President Bola Tinubu that the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Navy are responsible for the bulk cases of oil theft recorded in the oil-rich region.
Dokubo, who met with the president on Friday, however, pledged to fish out the elements behind the oil theft in the region.
Speaking with State House correspondent after he met President Bola Tinubu behind closed doors at the Aso Rock Villa, Dokubo said: “The military is at the centre of oil theft and we have to make this very clear to the Nigerian public that 99 per cent of oil theft can be traced to the Nigerian military, the Army and the Navy especially.”
He pledged his support to the Federal Government to bring oil theft to “zero,” believing that the Tinubu-led administration would “fish out” the culpable elements in the military.
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.”