A Niger Delta militants’ leader and former agitator, Mujahid Asari Dokubo has said the bulk cases of oil theft recorded in the oil-rich region are traceable to the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Navy.
Dokubo told State House correspondent after he met President Bola Tinubu behind closed doors at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, on Friday that he had pledged to fish out the elements behind the oil theft in the region.
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.”
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 vandalisation in the Niger Delta.
“We’re going to walk with an NNPCL 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.”