The Ibenanaowei of Ekpetiama Kingdom in Bayelsa State, King Bubaraye Dakolo, has criticised the Federal Government for failing to prosecute and jail the real perpetrators of oil theft in the Niger Delta region.
Dakolo, who is also the Chairman of the Traditional Rulers Council of Bayelsa State, disclosed this on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief
He lamented that despite the trillions of dollars worth of crude stolen from the country, the government has not defined who an oil thief is.
“What I do know is that the Federal Government does not know who an oil thief is because it is surprising that for this long, not one oil thief has been arrested, prosecuted, and jailed.
” If you go to the Kirikiri correctional centre, there is not one oil thief on the list of persons ever jailed.”
The monarch lamented that instead of identifying and prosecuting the real thieves, the government goes after poor residents in the region.
He said, “The oil thief definitely is not the youth in the Niger Delta who are painted as oil thieves.
”The oil thieves, usually, will have properties on Banana Island and in choice places in Abuja.
”The oil thief will have properties in London and other parts of Europe and America.”
King Dakolo described the real oil thieves as individuals who have the means to protect themselves and their interests.
He said, “the oil thief will have a yacht, the oil thief will have glossy skin.
”The oil thief wouldn’t want to come to the creeks of the Niger Delta even for a day. If he has to come, he will come with a military escort, police escort, doctors, nurses, and all.”
The monarch highlighted the significant revenue lost to crude oil theft and the lack of accountability by the government.
He stated, “the Federal Government not properly defining who an oil thief is has set us on this trajectory.
”As we speak now, about $3 trillion worth of oil has been sold or has been extracted over the years, and then most of it outright stolen, never brought to Nigeria.”
King Dakolo emphasised the need for proper accountability and transparency in the management of oil and gas resources.
He said, “so, there is no proper accountability. The mismanagement of oil and gas resources is the story. Nobody wants to frontally say, ‘This is an oil thief or this is the definition of an oil thief.’”
