The Nigerian Military on Friday responded to allegations of oil theft brought against it by Asari Dokubo, challenging the ex-Niger Delta agitator to name such military men stealing oil in the Niger Delta.
Director Naval Information (DINFO), Commodore Ayo-Vaughn, dismissed Dokubo, claims and said the ex militant is only trying to be relevant. He said the Nigerian military and the navy in particular has 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.
The navy spokesman while noting that the navy has continued to record tremendous challenges in the war against oil theft, challenged Dokubo, to name the military officers engaged in such acts rather than ranting and making spurious allegations.
Ayo-Vaughn in an audio message to Saturday Sun said: “What I can say officially is that the Nigerian military and the Navy in particular is at the forefront of fighting crude oil theft at all levels. Why I say at all levels is because crude oil is stolen from pipelines and refined in the creeks for the local market. The local buyers. It also allegedly stolen from offshore at sea. You remember the case of Eric Edun that was made to pay fines to Nigerian government after they were arrested and brought back from Guinea Bissau, Malabo island and made to face court orders. It demonstrated the will of the Navy to go as far as even beyond our waters to arrest a ship that attempted to load without licence without due approval. In April 1, last year, I was there physically on board one of our ships at FOT, in Onne, when the Navy launched operation Dakata Fs barawo, which means Stop the Thief in Hausa language. Stop the Thief that is stealing the nation’s natural resources. Nigerian Navy has been fighting oil theft, taking the fight to the creeks. As I speak to you, our men are currently in the creeks fighting oil theft.
So what I will just say is that If Asari Dokubo is seeking some form of relevance and whatever, and he alleges that there is a cabal of military people that are involved in crude oil theft, let him bring the names. Nobody is afraid of getting the names of those involved in crude oil theft. You cannot make such spurious allegations and think that we will just sweep it down the carpet. There will be, I believe an official response from Defence Headquarters on the matter. The Chief of Defence Staff does not condone such acts, nor the Chief of Naval Staff under whom I serve. The Nigerian Navy as an organization is actively involved in the fight against crude oil theft and the resources in the Niger Delta, so for anybody to say that there is a cabal of military officers, the only simple thing is, bring the evidence, bring the names. I rest my case.”
When contacted, the ±Director, Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, denied the allegations. Nwachukwu in an interview with Saturday Sun, 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. The Nigerian Army has zero tolerance for any compromise on the part of our troops and no black sheep will be spared if identified.” (The Sun)
