Top People From Abuja, Lagos Are Behind Oil Theft In Niger Delta Region – Ex-Bayelsa Governor, Dickson

Seriake Dickson, a former governor of Bayelsa State and current serving Senator, has accused influential individuals living in Lagos and Abuja as the masterminds behind the oil theft in the Niger Delta region.

Dickson, who is a Senator representing Bayelsa West in the National Assembly made this revelation when he appeared on "Inside Sources" with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme which was aired on Channels Television on Friday.

He went on to say that the official system and oil firms profit from oil theft in the Niger Delta, and he lamented the lack of national values that leads people to exploit the country's resources for personal gain.

Dickson 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 because there is too much illegal money, illegal arms, illicit drugs and it has fueled cultism because 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 dismember him is normal? So, those are people who are actively on drugs.

“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.”

He stated that, just as the world came together to condemn stolen blood diamonds, a worldwide consensus should emerge to force the international community to reject stolen crude oil from Nigeria.

Dickson, therefore, urged authorities at all levels to have great political resolve in order to put an end to the dangerous trend of oil theft.