Lagos, Abuja VIPs behind oil theft in Niger Delta – Senator Dickson

Lagos, Abuja VIPs behind oil theft in Niger Delta – Senator Dickson

Influential personalities from Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, are behind oil theft in Niger Delta, Senator Seriake Dickson representing Bayelsa West in the Senate has alleged.

Dickson, a former governor of Bayelsa State, also said the criminal act was being perpetuated with the support of top government officials.

He spoke as a guest on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme, which was aired on Channels Television on Friday.

He said the official system and oil companies are beneficiaries of oil theft in the Niger Delta and lamented the absence of national values which made people to use the nation’s resources for personal aggrandisement.

“People from Abuja and Lagos are the masterminds and the official system is not ignorant and not innocent. The official security system, the official oil system, the official federal system, all of it in its entirety. It’s a criminal, powerful system,” Dickson said.

He also said, “Why should a country like Nigeria that has been producing oil, exporting oil for the past 70 years not have a scientific way of metering, recording what leaves, what is pumped, what is sold and what is not sold? And it’s deliberate.

“It’s not a Niger Delta thing. It’s just happening there and it is unfortunate that it has destroyed communities. This is because there is too much illegal money, illegal arms, illicit drugs and it has fueled cultism. People want to get the loyalties of young people to be able to hold territories where oil facilities are.

“They need weapons and young men that are always high on drugs. You think a man who slaughters and cuts off a man’s head and dismembers him is normal? So, those are people who are actively on drugs.

Dickson called for strong political will on the part of leaders at all levels to stop the oil theft.

He also urged that a global consensus should be formed to make the international community to reject stolen crude oil from Nigeria.