A former Minister of Communications, retired Army General Tajudeen Olanrewaju, has advised the Nigerian military to involve the Police, and the Department of State Services (DSS) to investigate the allegations by Niger Delta ex-militant leader, Mujahid Asari Dokubo, that its officers and some cabals were behind 99 percent of the oil theft in the Niger Delta region.
Dokubo had, when he visited President Bola Tinubu on Friday, alleged that the Nigerian Army, Navy and cabal, are responsible for 99 percent of oil theft in the country.
He also claimed that the President promised to investigate the allegations with a view to take decisive action to halt the shameful act.
The Army and Navy in separate statements had debunked the allegation, with the Navy challenging Dokubo to prove his allegations.
However, Olanrewaju, in an exclusive interview with THE DEFENDER, described the allegations as “too weighty not to be taken serious by the government”, because, according to him, by the context of their passage, “they constitute a breach of national security.”
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According to him, the military should, in support of their initial denial of the allegations, report Dokubo to the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) and the Department of State Services (DSS) for the purpose of divulging all that he knows, and to set the records straight.
Olanrewaju, who observed that the allegations looked more like an attempt to bring down the military and make militancy more popular in the eyes of the people, warned that it should not be heard that an Dokubo and his boys are carrying arms and boasting to be behind the success against insecurity of 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 a 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.
“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 and My Review (1993 -95) had taken care of these lapses, but the government ignored them,” Olanrewaju said.
He further challenged the military to go beyond challenging Dokubo to name names, but go ahead to report him to the police and DSS to be invited and to say 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.
