Former Commissioner for Information and Culture, Major General Ibrahim Bata Malgwi Haruna, has slammed a former Niger Delta Militants leader, Asari Dokubo who recently accused the Nigerian military of oil theft in the Niger Delta.
Dokubo, former leader of the defunct Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, who addressed journalists after a meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the State House on Friday, accused the military high command of being behind oil bunkering in the Niger Delta region.
The ex-militant had claimed that ordinary citizens cannot garner the resources and technology needed to engage in oil bunkering, especially connecting pipes directly to oil heads to tap crude.
Asari who denied having a private security force, said he has been instrumental in quelling the crisis in the Niger and Kaduna axis of the country.
But appearing on Arise TV’s The Morning Show on Tuesday morning, General Haruna said people like Asari Dokubu lack the moral right to speak on oil theft in the country unless he wants to apologise to Nigerians.
According to him, “Is Asari Dokubo free from oil theft? Is he not a beneficiary of oil theft? How did he finance his empire over there? Maybe he is accusing soldiers and lower people who steal jerricans of petrol while he is behind the stealing and enjoyment of millions of dollars stashed in their bank accounts.
“I think talking about Dokubo and others is because of the impact of security and its operations have failed. Those who are accessing the military and other services, they point one finger at the military and the other three are pointing at them.
“In the Nigerian situation, they cannot get to where they’ve gotten if the spills of oil are not dripping from their ears and mouths.”