Mujahid Asari Dokubo, former President of the Ijaw Youth Council and former leader, Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, has revealed the categories of people behind oil theft in the Niger Delta region.
Dokubo who made the revelation when he appeared on Arise TV News Program, Wednesday night, said there are wills that needs to be tactically put in place, show committed about it before the oil theft could stop.
The former Ijaw Youth Council leader also gave an insight on why he complained over the pipeline contract awarded to Tompolo by the Federal Government.
Speaking on the oil theft and its effect in the region, Dokubo said: “Oil theft will continue as long as we continue to be doing things the way we have been doing and expect a different result.
“You cannot be claiming to tackle oil theft when you’re not committed in your drive to stop it, there is no sincerity, if there is sincerity, then we will do it.
“For instance, there is primary economic theory, that nearest to raw materials where you employ people in the environment in which you produced, you don’t import people, so when you bring in whether local or foreign expatriate workers to the region, you pay them more.
“When you have qualified individuals in around where these resources are found and you refuse to engage them in one way or the other in the process of exploration or exploitation of these resources you found out that people will resort to selfhelp, because improvised the people, you can’t destroyed their environment and expect them to fold their hands and watch.
“There must be a will to change the narrative in the Niger Delta region, but when that will is lacking and we’re not able to change this behavior that everything belong to everybody no, it does not belong to everybody, these things are found on the land of the people and oil production affect the economic of these people. It affect the environment, it affect the moral of the people.
“You bring in foreign expatriate, they do all sort of thing and they leave, so there must be a will to correct these in-balances and these injustice that are being perpetrated in the oil industry. Except we do these, the story about oil theft won’t stop.
When asked to reveal the people behind oil theft in the Niger Delta region, Dokubo listed three categories of people, he said: “There three groups of people involved in the oil theft. There are those who are working for the oil multinationals and the Nigerian oil conglomerates, NNPC.
“Now, if we say Nigeria produces 1.8 million barrels a day, is Nigeria actually produces 1.8 million barrels? Or, is the oil pumped over above that figure and part of the money is not remitted or the govt have no knowledge or does not come into the govt purse?
“And there is those big people who are either in the military and so on, who bring these vessel and go straight to the various ware heads and load directly. We know these things, these things are true, we know them. They come with these vessel, they load and they leave and these vessel are not tiny boats, there are bigger than 10, 5 buildings, these tankers so the security cannot pretend they don’t see these vessels.
“And there are locals who are paid by people to set up artisan depot they call refinery and these, they produce finish products and tankers come from all over Nigeria and beyond to collect under the nose of the security, these tankers are not small Volkswagen vehicle, they are very long tankers and they come and they load, we cannot pretend that these thing do not happen.
According to Dokubo, the oil theft by locals have done more harm to the region than that of the multinationals.
“Oil theft by the locals, have done more harm to the environment than all that multinationals have been doing because every corner you turn now, you will see these artisan depot they call local refinery and they’re daily polluting and killing the environment.
Speaking on the pipeline contract awarded to fellow Niger Delta leader, Government Oweizide Ekpemupolo popularly known as Tompolo, Dokubo said he had to back down when Ijaw nation leaders intervenend.
“The award of contract to Tompolo, yes, there was a lot of people who complained including myself, but the Ijaw nation intervenend, as one of the leaders of the Ijaw nation, I have to back down.
On being an ex-leader of Niger Delta Militant, Dokubo cautioned the ARISE TV presenter to stop addressing him as an ex-militant leader, adding that he was never an ex-militant.
He said: “I’m not a militant leader or an ex-militant because I did not take the amnesty bribe so you can just call me a militant, don’t call me an ex-militant, I’m not an ex-militant because I don’t know what that name connotes and what it’s the meaning of that name.
“I was the former President of the Ijaw Youth Council and former leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Salvation Front and Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force. There is no time have I called myself a militant.
