Former Minister of Communications, Major General Tajudeen Olanrewaju, has described as too weighty to be ignored by the government, the allegations by Niger Delta ex-militant leader, Mujahid Asari Dokubo, that the Nigerian Army, Navy and some cabals are behind 99 per cent of the oil theft in the country.
Former minister noted that by the context, they represented a breach of national security.
It would be recalled that Dokubo made the allegations after he had an audience with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in State House, Abuja on Friday, stating that the president had promised to investigate allegations of huge oil bunkering by notorious naval commanders that were kingpins and take decisive action to halt the shameful act.
The ex-militant added that there were powerful cabals operating from Abuja, vowing that these powerful forces in place had now met their match and would soon be marched to Kuje Prison.
Olanrewaju made the call on Saturday in his reaction, saying that the Nigeria Police and the Department of State Services (DSS) should invite Dokubo to make him “divulge all that he knows so records will be set straight.”
The former General Officer Commanding (GOC), Third Armoured Division of the Nigerian Army, said the allegations looked more like an attempt to bring down the military and make militancy popular in the eyes of the people.
Gen. Olanrewaju said it should not be heard that “an Asari Dokubo and his boys were able to carry arms and now boasting around to be behind the success against insecurity caused by terrorists and bandits on Abuja-Kaduna axis, Niger State and across the Niger Delta while putting the military up as liars for laying claims to same.”
“This is cheap political blackmail. Dokubo should be directed by the president to provide whatever evidence is available to him to the security services. An individual like Dokubo cannot eat his cake and have it. He’s now the complainant, jury, and court.
“He has taken an open criticism of the entire security services and has whitewashed them in the public. The accusations are strong and grimmed enough to be thoroughly investigated through a commission of inquiry and steps taken accordingly,” he said.
“This man is playing to the gallery without proof of evidence, and so, he should not be treated lightly. It is in the interest of Mr. President to act on his open denigrating of his Armed Forces as the Commander-in-Chief.
“This man goes about with armed men approved by the Federal Government, and whereas states that have security outfits (e.g. Amotekun) were denied from doing so.
“This kind of double standard has no place in today’s political setting. Gen Abisoye’s NNPC Report & My Review (1993 -95) had taken care of these lapses, but the government ignored them,” he added.
This was just as the former minister recalled that the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor, last year October, vowed to investigate oil theft activities in the Niger Delta.
According to him, General Irabor made the vow when he alongside the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mallam Mele Kyari, visited scene of the illegal insertions at the Trans-Escravos pipeline in the Yokiri area of Delta State.
Meanwhile, media platforms, earlier, had reported the counter-statement from the Nigerian Navy, challenging Dokubo to mention names of those involved in such an act, if he was saying the truth.
Director of Naval Information, Commodore Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan, gave this challenge hours after the accusation, claiming that the Niger Delta leader was only trying to court the favour of President Tinubu with such allegations.
However, General Olanrewaju said the Armed Forces should go steps beyond the Navy’s challenging Dokubo to name anyone but go ahead to report him to the police and DSS to be invited and let him provide all that he knows and be investigated.
“To bring down the military’s credibility will be the costliest mistake that anybody will do and this must not be allowed,” he said.
Asari Dokubo isn’t in my good books but I wonder why GenTajudeen Olanrewaju would pick out and speak against Dokubo’s allegations against the Nigerian Navy and other military groups. Why would the Rtd. General call for Dokubo’s arrest? What sense lies behind arresting an informer. Is it that Gen. Olanrewaju wants to shut Dokubo up? What is Gen. Tajudeen Olanrewaju trying to hide? A sane society would take Dokubo’s allegations seriously and investigate it. So if the government is serious, it must investigate the navy and other forces alleged to be involved in oil bunkering. It is a crime, economic sabotage, a felony and the military including the navy is conscious of this crime against fatherland.
As for Asari Dokubo, he merits arrest but not for his changes against the involvement of the navy (military) in oil bunkering. He merits arrest for his repeated threats against a people that are supposedly part of the country, the Igbos. Why his threats have not made any waves in Nigeria is that it has become normal for people of other tribes to maim, kill destroy Igbo lives and property. We have forgotten Oluomo’s threats and its execution. We remember the threats of the Oba of Lagos and the ongoing destruction of Igbo wares and property in Lagos by #SanwoOlu are not easy to be forgotten.
Well, Igbos from unexpected quarters are warning #Nigeria to thread with care. You are pushing #Igbos real hard.