Alleged Involvement of Nigerian Security Agents In Crude Oil Theft: Asari Dokubo Vindicated- Goodliffe Goodhead
Read Time:9 Minute, 58 Second
Asari Dokubo, a prominent Niger Delta Leader and founder/leader of the defunct Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force, accused the Nigerian Security Agents of being behind 99 percent of oil theft in the country.
Dokubo made the accusation after a private meeting with President Bola Tinubu in his office on Friday, June16, 2023
According to Dokubo, there are powerful cabals operating from Abuja, and that these powerful forces in Abuja have now met their match as he would ensure many of them finds their way to Kuje. He also said that he has volunteered to use his boys to assist and do the necessary to halt the evil.
The former militant leader argued that ordinary Niger Delta citizens who are often blamed for oil theft are not the ones responsible, as they do not have the wherewithal to perform such sophisticated act of stealing.
According to him, the manner in which the oil thieves have gone about their criminal activities has stripped the people of the Niger Delta of their livelihood, and it is a crime against humanity.
Dokubo also alleged that it is an act of blackmail for the military to say that they have insufficient armaments to deal with insecurity, accusing them of forfeiting their weapons to the insurgents, which continued to fuel the insurgency.
Reacting to Asari Dokubo’s accusation, both spokesperson for the Navy, Commodore Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan and his counterpart in the Army, Brig. Gen Onyema Nwachukwu, denied the allegations in separate interviews.
The Nigerian military denied the allegation, adding that they had conducted several successful operations to curb oil theft in the country, adding that the Nigerian Army had zero tolerance for any compromise on the part of its troops and would not condone such acts of economic sabotage.
Onyema added, “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.”
Ayo-Vaughan on his part, specifically dared Dokubo to provide evidence to substantiate his claim, disclosing that the latest operation by the service saved the country from losing N71bn to oil thieves as of June 2.
He said, “Also, it is allegedly stolen from offshore at sea. We have been fighting crude oil theft taking it to the creeks. If Dokubo is claiming that there is a cabal of military personnel involved in oil theft, let him bring their names.”
In October last year, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, vowed to investigate oil theft activities in the Niger Delta.
General Irabor made the vow when he alongside the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, visited scene of the illegal insertions at the Trans-Escravos pipeline in the Yokiri area of Delta State.
“This is an eye-opener and I’m glad that I’ve come here,” the General said. “This is really very sad and we are going to get to the root of it all. There will be an investigation that will go through the entire length of the chain to establish who did this and how long it has been, among several other issues,” he had said.
However, evidences and proofs of the involvement of the Nigerian Security Agents in crude oil theft as requested by the Security Agencies are being unveiled.
On July 7, 2023 or thereabouts, the Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, TSSNL, a private pipeline surveillance company, operated by the ex-militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, in the Niger Delta, intercepted the infamous ocean-going vessel, MT Tura II, (International Maritime Organization, IMO, number: 6620462) with illegal 150,000 metric tons of illegal crude oil worth $86.8m.
Commanders of Operation DELTA SAFE, South-South Operations, Rear Admiral Olusegun Ferreira, and Nigerian Navy Ship, NNS Delta, Commodore Chindo Yahaya, were onboard the villainous vessel in their full insignia at Oporoza community, Gbaramatu clan, Warri South-West Local Government Area, Delta State, where TSSNL anchored it, after the seizure to brief reporters.
Executive Director, Technical and Operation, TSSNL, Captain Warredi Enisuoh, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPCL, and NSCDC representatives were also on hand.
Rear Admiral Ferreira, who described the arrest as one of the success stories in the ongoing synergy between the military and Tantita security operative, noted: “We are here over this vessel involved in oil theft and arrested off the coast of Escravos. We had information from our partner, private security over activities of the vessel. We will continue to take on oil thieves threatening our common patrimony,” Rear Admiral Ferreira asserted.
Meanwhile, he assured that the investigation into the arrest of MT Tura II had commenced in earnest and those arrested would be further scrutinized for the role they played in the crime.
Outrageously,the MT Tura II arrested by TSSNL operatives on July 7, 2023, is the same as MT ALLI-RIZA BEY, which the NNS Cobra, on July 28, 2013, apprehended while transferring petroleum product suspected to be Automative Gas Oil, AGO, to some smaller boats offshore Escravos.
The Nigerian Navy had handed over MV SOA, which originally applied to the NNS BEECROFT to lift AGO from Calabar to Lagos with a valid clearance until August 2013, and MT ALLI –RIZA BEY with six suspects to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, October 2, 2013, for further investigation and possible prosecution.
Against the Standing Operation Procedures, SOP, and approval granted, MV SOA was operating in Escravos while MT ALLI –RIZA BEY, now MT Tura II in 2023 was doing its surreptitious craft.
The truth is that an oil cartel had engaged MT Tura II in the last 12 years in pilfering crude oil from Nigeria to neighboring countries.
“The vessel, MT TURA II (IMO number: 6620462), owned by a Nigerian registered company, HOLAB MARITIME SERVICES LIMITED with registration number RC813311, was heading to Cameroun with the cargo on board when it was apprehended at an offshore location (Latitude: 5.8197194477543235°, Longitude: 4.789002723991871°), with the Captain and Crew members on board.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that the crude oil cargo onboard was illegally sourced from a well jacket offshore Ondo State, Nigeria. There was no valid documentation for the Vessel or the Crude Oil Cargo onboard at the time of the arrest.
“Further investigation into the activities of the vessel at the NNPC Ltd. Command and Control Centre also revealed that the vessel has been operating in stealth mode for the last twelve (12) years. The last reported location of the vessel was Tin Can Port in July 2011.
“Details of this arrest and the outcomes of the investigations were escalated to the appropriate government authorities, upon which it was concluded to destroy the vessel to serve as a strong warning and deterrent to all those participating in such illegal activities to cease and desist.
“Destroying vessels involved in transporting stolen crude oil is of paramount importance as a strong deterrent. The illegal trade of stolen crude oil not only inflicts significant economic losses on Nigeria and legitimate stakeholders in the oil industry, but also perpetuates a cycle of corruption, environmental devastation, and social instability. NNPC Limited assures Nigerians that we will sustain the momentum in the war against crude oil theft until it is brought to a halt,” he added.
What is strange to insiders was how the vessel arrested and handed over to the EFCC for prosecution in 2013 found itself in the territorial waterways of the country 10 years after. How did the vessel get out and start operation once again?
Findings show that the vessel built in Turkey in 1965, with a storage capacity of 500,000 metric tons, was first registered under the name ‘Ali Riza Bey’ in Togo, and found its way to Nigerian waterways in 2012 when it resumed illegal bunkering operations conveying stolen crude to Ghana, Cameroon and Togo and offloading to other vessels. The impounded vessel reportedly had a history of changing identities after apprehension, and resuming its illegal operations along the waterways, due to the influence of the powerful cartel operating it within the nation’s maritime space. The operators incorporated its latest name, MT Tura II, in all the global satellite networks on shipping, but no federal government agency registered it. However, it had operated within the nation’s territorial waters for over a decade.
Further findings show that under its false identity, MT Tura II, sponsored by powerful crude oil dealers left Lagos to illegally lift crude oil in the Niger Delta without any certification. Except when powerful people are behind it, it is practically impossible for any vessel to sail all the way from Lagos to the Niger Delta the manner MT Tura II successfully did without the Nigerian Navy and NIMASA detecting it with their available tracking system. The vessel would not also have evaded Operation DELTA SAFE on the standard route from Lagos to Ondo State where TSSNL and NSCDC operatives apprehended it, except “something” happened along the line.
“The oil cabal is working with professionals in the oil companies, if not, how did they know the exact oil well that had high pressure and went for it? Who opened the oil well head for them; it is not something a non-expert could open. They knew Tantita operatives were coming, and ran away from the scene. How did they know? An industry source, who spoke to Saturday Vanguard fumed.
Stakeholders were still trying to comprehend why a thieving vessel could sail from Lagos to Niger Delta to steal crude oil, and ferrying crude oil from Nigeria to neighboring African countries for over a decade without detection, when the MT Tura II was set ablaze.
This raised another dust with people saying that burning the vessel was akin to jungle justice and covering the tracks for the oil cabal, as it would not take clever lawyers much time to get the court to throw out a case in which security officials destroyed the exhibits..
“Obviously, the destruction of the vessel used for illegal bunkering is unlawful, injurious to the environment, and deserves condemnation. There is no justification for it and the federal government may face legal action to pay damages for the destruction of the aquatic life of the people around the place where they destroyed the vessel”, Omare argued.
Also, on Wednesday, August 2, 2023, Tanita Security Services intercepted another suspected crude oil vessel in Koko area of Delta State.
The 1117 tons vessel carrying about 8,100 barrels of crude, was being escorted by some naval officers before being intercepted..
According to the private security company, the vessel tagged MT Praisel, was flying a Togolese flag and was being escorted by a Navy boat led by a senior naval commander.
Tanita operatives said they were met with resistance from the navy boat escorting the vessel and that the naval commander threatened to deal decisively with them. But the private operatives said they refused to back down.
They eventually contacted the National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu and the Chief of Naval Staff Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla who authorised them to inspect the vessel.
Upon entrance into the ship, the security company said they noticed that the vessel was authorised to carry products by the navy but did not have any approvals from Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the authority responsible for the regulation of the midstream and downstream petroleum operations in Nigeria, for this said voyage.
It is now left for the Nigerian Military, The Nigerian Navy and the Economic And Financial Crime Commission{EFCC} and other government agencies to prove their innocence by making public the identities of all those whose responsible it is, to have prevented these criminal acts.
Asari Dokubo was right in accusing the Nigerian Security Agencies in aiding and abetting crude oil theft in Nigeria.
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