The Nigerian military has responded to the allegation of oil theft levelled against it by a former Niger Delta agitator, Mr. Asari Dokubo, challenging him to name the army and navy officers involved in act.
Recall that Dokubo had, after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Aso Villa in Abuja yesterday, told journalists that over 90 per cent of crude oil theft taking place in the Niger Delta region was perpetrated by the Nigerian Army and Navy officers.
Spokesman for the Nigerian Navy, Commodore Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan, who replied to Dokubo’s allegation, dismissed the claims saying he (Dokubo) is attention seeker.
He said the military and the navy had taken the fight against crude oil theft to the creeks and waterways where these criminals are located to give them the fight of their lives.
He challenged Dokubo to name the military officers engaged in such acts rather than ranting and making spurious allegations.
“Let him bring the names. The Nigerian Navy is interested in the names of those involved because the Navy has no tolerance for any form of criminalities whatsoever, not even that height of theft as alleged by Asari Dokubo.
“The Navy has an operation in the Niger-Delta that has been running for over one year plus to curb oil theft. Operation DAKATAR DA BARAWO has denied oil thieves more than N76 billion worth of crude oil, the money that would have helped them to further increase their illegal artisanal refineries.
“So, the Navy is actively fighting oil theft. For anybody to make such spurious allegations, bring the names. He (Dokubo) is in the Niger Delta, he has boys in the Niger Delta.
“The company that was given a contract by the NNPC on pipeline surveillance, they are working with the Nigerian Navy and Operation Delta Safe in the Niger-Delta to curb oil theft.
“For somebody to just make such unguarded statement, bring the names. You know that there is an operation (Operation DAKATA BARAWO) going on in the Niger Delta being run by the Nigerian Navy since April last year. The Navy has been running it in synergy with the NNPC.
“NNPC holds regular meetings with the Chief of Naval Staff to review the operations. Just last week, the Chief Executive of NUPREC was here to have a meeting with CNS. Just two days ago, the management team for the other one on downstream regulatory authority were also here to have a meeting. For us, if you want to make such spurious allegations, bring the names. Simple,” he said.
Also disproving the allegation, spokesman for the army, Brig. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu said: “The Nigerian Army has been vigorously engaged in the fight against illegal oil bunkering, oil theft and illegal oil refining in the Niger Delta and this has yielded positive results as evident in the increase in daily oil production per barrel from an abysmally dwindling output.”
He told The Sun in an interview that the Nigerian Army has zero tolerance for any compromise on the part of “our troops and no black sheep will be spared if identified.”
