LEADER of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF) Asari Dokubo recently declared that his ‘men’ are in charge of security on the Abuja-Kaduna road but the Nigerian military has said the former militant leader lied.

Director, Defence Information (DDI), Tukur Gusau, a brigadier general, told The ICIR on Friday, June 30, that troops of the Nigerian Army are the ones maintaining security on the road, and not Dokubo’s men.

At the peak of insecurity on the Abuja-Kaduna road, motorists and passengers were routinely killed or abducted on a daily basis, as bandits and terrorists had a field day. The situation forced travellers to abandon the road, opting to commute on the Abuja-Kaduna train.

But the rail route turned out to be unsafe. On March 28, 2022, terrorists attacked the Abuja-Kaduna train carrying hundreds of passengers, reportedly killing nine and kidnapping several others. The incident, which forced the shutdown of the rail track, exacerbated insecurity on the Abuja-Kaduna route, as road became the only option for individuals travelling on that axis.

The security situation on the road has stabilised in recent times, with a sharp drop in cases of abduction, robbery and killings on the route.

It was taken for granted that the military and other security agencies were responsible for the improved security on the road. But Nigerians were stunned when Dokubo declared on June 16 that his men were behind the relative calm on the Abuja-Kaduna road.

Dokubo made the claim after meeting President Bola Tinubu in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Speaking with journalists after a closed-door meeting with the President, Dokubo faulted the performance of the military in the ongoing campaign against insecurity across the country.

The ex-militant leader went ahead to reveal a shocker – that his ‘private army’ was contracted by the Nigerian government to maintain security on the Abuja-Kaduna road, as well as in different parts of the country.

Dokubo’s words
He said: “There is a full-scale war going on and the blackmail of the Nigerian state by the Nigerian military is shameful. They said they do not have enough armament and people listen to this false narrative. They are lying. They are liars. I repeat they are liars because I am a participant.

“I am a participant in this war. I fight on the side of the government of the Nigerian state in Plateau, Niger, Anambra, Imo, Abia and Rivers. And in Abuja today, you are travelling to Kaduna on this road. It is not the army that makes it possible for you to travel to Abuja or travel to Kaduna, and vice versa. It is my men, employed by the government of the Nigerian state, stationed in Niger.

“Today, you travel to Baga, you go to Shiroro, you go to Wase. We have lost so many men and in all these engagements, we don’t even have one per cent of the armament deployed by the Nigerian military. One per cent and we have had resounding success.

“So, this blackmail must end. They (Nigerian Army) have enough resources to fight. Instead of fighting, they are busy stealing. They are busy making the government spend unnecessarily.”

Dokubo also accused the military authorities of involvement in oil bunkering in the Niger Delta.

Following Dokubo’s bombshell, the military denied involvement in oil theft. But the bigger issue – Dokubo’s men maintaining security on the Abuja-Kaduna road – was not addressed.

READ MORE HERE: https://www.icirnigeria.org/asari-dokubos-men-another-wagner-group/

Not just Asari. Tompolo too. The government should stop giving military contracts to former warlords. They can turn on the state anytime and people like Asari will start calling on seccession. Prigozin should be a lesson to all leaders on non-state military contractors.