Omoyele Sowore, the African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate in the previous general election, claims that the main oil thieves in Nigeria are not in the Niger Delta but in Aso Rock, Abuja.
The politician and news publisher made the claim in response to a remark made by Asari Dokubo, a former militant leader in the Niger Delta, during a visit to President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja last Friday.
According to news reports, during his visit to Aso Rock Villa, Dokubo accused the Nigerian Army and Navy of being at the forefront of oil theft in the Niger Delta.
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However, addressing at the 10th anniversary of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) and book launch in Abuja, Sowore mocked Dokubo, saying he only succeeded in reporting oil thieves to real oil thieves.
Sowore said: “I want to thank our traditional ruler for talking about oil thieves but he didn’t want to mention their names. I saw Asari Dokubo; he went to Aso Rock to mention the people who are stealing oil, and I was laughing that Asari went to report oil thieves to oil thieves. The biggest oil thieves are here and not in the Niger Delta.”
According to news sources, Asari Dokubo, the former head of the now-disbanded Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, blamed the military high command for his involvement in oil bunkering activities in the Niger Delta region when he met President Tinubu in Abuja on June 16, 2023.
Dokubo told the press following the closed-door meeting that ordinary individuals lack the means and technology required for oil bunkering, including the difficult procedure of connecting pipes directly to oil wells to obtain crude oil.
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He 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.”
Dokubo 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.
Despite denying the existence of a personal security force, Dokubo stated that he played a significant part in managing crises in the Niger and Kaduna regions.
He commended President Tinubu’s firm approach to national issues and called for the support of well-meaning Nigerians in bolstering these efforts.
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