Prominent Niger Delta leader, Asari Dokubo, recently claimed that the military is responsible for 99 percent of Nigeria’s oil theft.

Development Diaries reports that Dokubo made the accusation after a private meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Abuja.

The former militant leader claimed that common Niger Delta residents, who are frequently held accountable for oil theft, are not to blame because they lack the resources necessary to carry out such sophisticated fraud.

Theft and pipeline vandalism has been crippling Nigeria’s oil industry for many years, defying security and governmental measures.

In April, the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) disclosed that Nigeria lost 619.7 million barrels of crude oil valued at N16. 25 trillion ($46.16 billion) to crude oil theft between 2009 and 2020.

Also, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, in November 2022, said it lost 470,000 bpd of crude oil amounting to $700 million monthly due to oil theft.

Dokubo also claimed that the way the oil thieves have carried out their criminal activities has deprived the people of the area of their means of livelihood.

He further said Tinubu has promised to investigate allegations of huge oil bunkering by notorious naval commanders that are kingpins and promised to take decisive action to halt the shameful act.

In their response, the navy and the army described Dokubo’s claims as spurious and unguarded. The two arms of the military further challenged him to name the military officers involved.

Development Diaries believes that it is not enough to make allegations concerning oil theft without revealing the identity of those involved.

While we call on the army and naval authorities to carry out a thorough investigation among their personnel, we call on the Department of State Services (DSS) to also investigate the allegations.

Photo source: Asari Dokubo