Asari Dokubo, a Niger Delta activist, said that some members of the Nigerian Army and Navy were accountable for oil theft in the country's Niger Delta.
This was said by Mr. Dokubo on Friday after meeting President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja and speaking to State House reporters.
Mr. Dokubo claimed that instead of "setting up facilities they call local refineries," commanders and soldiers from the army and navy were sent to guard oil installations. A crime against humanity, this is.
“The Army and Navy are behind oil theft. They intimidate civil defence, who are by law expected to protect installations. They tap directly from the oil head. What has been happening in the last eight years is unprecedented anywhere in the world,” he said.
“The livelihood of the people is being destroyed. The main culprits are the army and navy. There are notorious army commanders who are known to be the ones behind oil bunkering.
However, according to Mr. Dokubo, "there will be zero oil theft in the Niger Delta" as a result of Mr. Tinubu's election and the widespread support he has received.
He stated that “there are powerful persons based in Abuja that are behind it, but in President Tinubu, they have met their match. Many people will find their way to Kuje.”
Mr. Dokubo claimed that he has known Mr. Tinubu for over 30 years and that Tinubu has assured him that he will "take decisive action to ensure that this does not continue."
The Niger Delta activist claimed that because of his prior service to the Nigerian government, the highway between Abuja and Kaduna was relatively peaceful.
“I have volunteered to assist to do the things that are necessary to stop the evil going on. There are full-scale wars going on in different parts of this country.
“The blackmail of the Nigerian state by the military is shameful. They are lying to say that they don’t have equipment. I am a participant in this war; I side with the government of Nigeria.
“Kaduna-Abuja is free now not because of the army; it is my men stationed in Niger State.