Nigerian Navy has urged Niger Delta former agitator, Mujahid Asari Dokubo, to list the names of officers involved in crude oil theft in the region.
Dokubo, had on Friday, made wild allegation that the bulk cases of oil theft recorded in the oil-rich region were traceable to the Nigerian Army and Navy.
He said this while briefing State House reporters after meeting President Bola Tinubu behind closed-doors at the Aso Rock Villa.
“The military is at the centre of oil theft and we have to make this very clear to the Nigerian public that 99 per cent of oil theft can be traced to the Nigerian military, the Army and the Navy especially,” Dokubo had said.
But in a swift reaction, the spokesman of the Nigerian Navy, Commodore Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan, described the allegation as “spurious and unguarded”.
He said oil thieves were angry because troops of Nigerian Navy and entire military have continued to deny them avenues to sabotage economy through ongoing “Operation DAKATAR DA BARAWO”.
He maintained that the maritime armed force in collaboration with relevant stakeholders would continue to deny crude oil thieves avenues to sabotage Nigeria’s economy.
Ayo-Vaughan, in an interview with Daily Trust, said “Let him bring the names. The Nigerian Navy is interested in the names of those involved because the Navy has no tolerance for any form of criminalities whatsoever, not even that height of theft as alleged by Asari Dokubo.
“The Navy has an operation in the Niger-Delta that has been running for over one year plus to curb oil theft. Operation DAKATAR DA BARAWO has denied oil thieves more than N76billion worth of crude oil. The money that would have helped them to further increase their illegal artisanal refineries.
“So, the Navy is actively fighting oil theft. For anybody to make such spurious allegations, bring the names. He (Dokubo) is in the Niger Delta, he has boys in the Niger Delta.
“The company that was given a contract by the NNPC on pipeline surveillance, they are working with the Nigerian Navy and Operation Delta Safe in the Niger-Delta to curb oil theft.
“For somebody to just make such unguarded statement, bring the names. You know that there is an operation (Operation DAKATA BARAWO) going on in the Niger Delta being run by the Nigerian Navy since April last year. The Navy has been running it in synergy with the NNPC.
“NNPC holds regular meetings with the Chief of Naval Staff to review the operations. Just last week, the Chief Executive of NUPREC was here to have a meeting with CNS. Just two days ago, the management team for the other one on downstream regulatory authority were also here to have a meeting. For us, if you want to make such spurious allegations, bring the names. Simple!”
In April 2022, the Nigerian Navy launched one of its biggest operations in years, Operation Dakatar Da Barawo (OPDDB), aimed at curbing crude oil theft and vandalism in the creeks of the Niger Delta.
The operation, launched in partnership with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) has so far led to the seizure of more than N80 billion worth of stolen petroleum products, with hundreds of arrests made.
More exciting is that oil production, which had been on a steady decline in early months of 2022, reverted its course and had been on a steady rise since October, an achievement that has been widely commended by all stakeholders in the oil and maritime sectors.
Since inception, 131 suspects as well as 17 vessels have been arrested while 519 Illegal Refining Sites (IRS) and 4,261 storage tanks have been deactivated, with 560 wooden boats and 69 vehicles demobilised.
Additionally, 90 speedboats, 303 pumping machines, 181 outboard engines, 8 welding machines and 33 generator sets have been seized from the criminal elements. Furthermore, oil thieves were denied about 116,939,404.26 litres (735,468.14 bbl) of crude oil, 45,120,813 litres of illegally refined AGO, 2,460,700 litres of DPK and 372,285.7 litres of PMS. At current market rates, this amounts to the sum of N71,880,111,421.30 denied oil thieves since the commencement of the Operation.