The Nigerian Army on Friday night, reacted to the oil theft allegations by the former Niger Delta agitator, Asari Dokubo, which claimed that the Military is responsible for 99 per cent of crude oil theft in the Niger Delta region.
The Informant247 recalls that Asari Dokubo, who spoke to newsmen after a visit to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Aso Villa on Friday, said that the Nigerian Army and Navy are responsible for crude oil theft in the Niger Delta region, adding that the military intimidate operatives of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) who, by status, are the ones mandated to guard the oil pipelines.
He refused the claim that it is the citizens of Niger Delta that are responsible for oil theft and rather blamed powerful cabals in Abuja.
“I also want to say that oil theft is encouraged by the Military. The Military is at the centre of oil theft, and we must clarify this to the Nigerian public. 99 per cent of oil theft can be traced to the Nigerian Military, the Army and the Navy.
“The Army and the Navy intimidate the Civil Defence, who are, by status, the people who are supposed to guard these pipelines.
“It is very pathetic now. What is happening in the Niger Delta in the past eight years was unprecedented in the history of oil production anywhere in the world”, he stated.
However, in its reaction, the Director of Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu denied the allegation, saying the Nigerian Army had rather engaged in the fight against illegal oil bunkering, oil theft, illegal oil refining and other sundry crimes in the region than being involved in the theft act.
Nwachukwu, while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria on Friday, in Abuja, claimed that the intervention of the Nigerian Army had produced positive results, adding that the effort of the military is evident in the increase in daily oil production from an abysmally dwindling output in the past.
Nwachukwu said the Nigerian Army had zero tolerance for any compromise on the part of its troops and would not condone any act of economic sabotage, adding that the army authority would not spare any black sheep in its fold if identified.
“The Nigerian Army has been vigorously engaged in the fight against illegal oil bunkering, oil theft, oil refining and other sundry crimes in the Niger Delta.
“And this has yielded positive results, as evident in the daily oil production per barrel increase from an abysmally dwindling output.
“The Nigerian Army has zero tolerance for any compromise on the part of our troops and will not condone such acts of economic sabotage.
“No black sheep will be spared if identified,” he said.