Posted by Asari Dokubo, a well-known Niger Delta Militant, and the Nigerian Army differ on who is to blame for Nigeria’s widespread crude oil theft.
Speaking on Friday at the Aso Villa after meeting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Dokubo asserted that the military was to blame for the vast majority of crude oil theft in the Niger Delta.
Dokubo, the head of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF), asserted that members of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), who are legally required to monitor the oil pipelines, are intimidated by the Army and the Navy.
He rejected the assertion that oil theft is the fault of Niger Delta residents and instead placed the blame on influential cabals in Abuja.
“I also want to say that the military supports oil theft. We must make the Nigerian people aware that the Military is at the heart of the oil theft. The Nigerian Army and Navy, as well as the Nigerian Military, are responsible for 99 percent of oil theft.
“The Civil Defence, who are legally obligated to protect these pipelines, are intimidated by the Army and the Navy.
“Right now, it’s quite pitiful. According to him, what has been happening in the Niger Delta over the last eight years is unmatched in the history of oil production worldwide.
However, hours after the allegations were made on Friday, Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, the director of army public relations, claimed that the Nigerian Army had been actively combating illegal oil bunkering, oil theft, illegal oil refining, and other miscellaneous crimes in the area with success.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Friday in Abuja, Nwachukwu claimed that the intervention had been successful.
The Army Spokesperson claims that the increase in daily oil production from an appallingly declining output in the past is proof of the Military’s efforts.
According to Nwachukwu, the Nigerian Army would not tolerate any compromise on the side of its soldiers or any act of economic sabotage.
He pledged that if any black sheep in the army’s fold were found, the authorities would not spare them.
The fight against illegal oil bunkering, oil theft, oil refining, and other various crimes in the Niger Delta has been relentlessly pursued by the Nigerian Army.
“And this has produced favorable consequences, as seen by the daily increase in oil production per barrel from a pitifully declining output.
“The Nigerian Army will not support such acts of economic sabotage and has zero tolerance for any compromise on the side of our troops.
“No black sheep will be spared if identified,” he declared.