A Niger Delta leader and former agitator, Mujahid Asari Dokubo has rejected calls for the release of leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra(IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
Dokubo told State House correspondents after meeting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu behind closed doors at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja on Friday that freeing the IPOB leader will intensify crisis in the region.
Kanu, who is standing trial for terrorism, has been held by the Department of State Services (DSS) since his re-arrest in 2021.
A Federal High Court in Abuja had granted him bail in 2017 but he flouted the bail conditions and fled the country thereafter.
“During EndSars, Nnamdi Kanu was walking free. What did he do? He poured petrol on the flames of EndSars. Now, he has been caught. What of the people who have died? This is a criminal. He should face the law,” he said
“Releasing Nnamdi Kanu is rewarding criminality and rewarding gruesome murder of innocent people. He should face the law for the actions and instigations he has carried out.”
Dokubo also alleged that the bulk cases of oil theft recorded in the oil-rich region are traceable to the Army and Navy.
“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,” he said
He pledged his support to the Federal Government and hoped that the Tinubu-led administration would “fish out” the culpable elements in the military.
Dokubo said his nearly two-hour discussion with the President was focused on oil theft and security.
“The blackmail of the Nigerian state by the Nigerian military is shameful. They said they do not have enough armament and people listen to these false narratives. So this blackmail must end. They have enough resources to fight.”