Has Ex-Militant Leader Become a State Within The State?
That is the question on everyone’s lips. And there are no answers forthcoming for now. Just when you thought Mujahid Asari Dokubo would forever hold his peace after his recent indictment of the military, there seems to be no end to his swashbuckling. The image of him brandishing and sometimes letting off sporadic shots into the air from an A-K 47 has become all too familiar. Once a supporter of detained IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, Dokubo is now fiercely critical of the man and the organisation he leads. Every act of his is meant to provoke – some of them religiously recorded in video format for wide distribution and viewership especially in this age of social media. Fresh from performing the Hajj in Mecca, one of the latest videos show Dokubo overflowing a blue plastic chair on the balcony of his residence somewhere in the Niger Delta. Down below are hundreds of his private army, militia going through their paces in the rain, as if preparing for combat. Could Asari’s mid-June meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu be a factor in his recent bellicose videos? By THEWILL CORRESPONDENTS
Mujahid Asari Dokubo can fill a reporter’s notebook in no time. He has an imposing presence and does not shy away from making provocative utterances – whether against the military, secessionist group IPOB or even a sitting governor. In the space of six weeks, the former Niger Delta militant has taken on all of them at different times.
In mid-June at a press briefing right in the seat of government Abuja, Dokubo level-looked the camera and then finger-pointed the military (Army and Navy) as the major culprits behind oil theft in a region he knows so well. Not long after, he had IPOB on his crosshair blaming them for being behind much of the violence and carnage in the South east. And just about a week or so ago, Dokubo’s target was closer home, this time the governor of his natal state, Siminalayi Fubara whom he openly challenged in another viral video.
What is the source of Dokubo’s strength? What is giving him courage?
An obvious answer to these questions will be his recent meeting and reception by none other President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Aso Villa around mid-June. After a closed-door meeting with PBAT, Dokubo had his time as the sole speaker at a special press briefing right in the presidency, complete with the Coat of Arms in the background.
Aside from that, the former warlord also relies much on the hundreds of supporters at his beck and call in his home turf. And he is quick to let others know how much these young men defer to and support him, a point demonstrated in one such video. Recently returned from performing the Hajj in Saudi Arabia, the video in question shows a number of loyalists in a quasi-military drill while it was drizzling. “Under the rain, under the sun we go follow Alhaji go,” they sang lustily, “under the rain, under the sun we go follow Alhaji go…”
Asari himself was safely ensconced in a blue plastic chair from where he sang in Kalabri to his loyalists down below. In the video, he wore a white round neck over red sweatpants. ”We thank God for keeping us alive,” Dokubo declared from high up . “Whatever the enemies are planning, they will…” The militia responds with a resounding chorus: “They will fail.” “Whatever the enemies are planning, what should happen?” “They will fail.” “We are here. I think you are seeing me.” “Yes sir.” “I am not a ghost. I just come from Saudi Arabia…”
Days before in Jos capital of Plateau state, the Chief of Army Staff Major General Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja not only encouraged his troops to stem the tide of violence flowing in the city but also led them in a military exercise. In battle fatigues and showing leadership by example, Lagbaja began by telling them to work hard to stop the carnage.
“Note that you must work and you must work…we must see the result in Plateau,” the COAS exhorted his troops. “This violence must not result…we must stop it and stop it completely once and for all. Is that clear?” “Yes sir.” “Are you ready?” “Yes sir.” “If you have pledged your readiness, I expect this in the action you will take in the field. I wish you the very best. My lines are open. If you have any challenge, any questions, please just send a message. We will respond accordingly. So, all the very best. Thank you.”
General Lagbaja then proceeded to lead his troops in exercise right there on the red earth, averaging 10 – 15 push-ups in a matter of seconds. “Are you ready to go?” The COAS asks once again. “Yes sir.” “Are you good to go?” “Yes sir.”
Most analysts found the coincidence between the COAS’s drill and Dokubo’s boys disturbing. How could both have happened only days apart? What message was the former Niger Delta militant trying to send to the military in particular and Nigerians in general?
The question was hardly out of the lips of Nigerians when another video by Dokubo made it to the public domain. What was it about this time?
Running for some few minutes, it was a stern warning from Dokubo to the sitting governor of Rivers state, Fubara to watch his utterances about the troops, private army under his command. It transpired that Governor Fubara had called on the federal authorities to rein in Dokubo and his private army. Dokubo promptly issued a warning to the number one citizen in his state and then made a video to that effect.
‘’If yanga dey sleep, trouble go come wake am,” Dokubo said of what he took to be Governor Fubara’s meddlesomeness. “Him go collect…If you do anyhow, you see anyhow. Boko Haram will be a child’s play. Because we no look for trouble. We dey on our own. We dey even help, e say make we no help. Him dey talk because them rig election put am somewhere.
“Wetin we do Sim? Them rig election. He is in government house. The person wey dey beat that drum with am, make him know the wood when they beat drum sometimes e dey break. We no look for him trouble, make e nor look for our trouble o because if him look for our trouble, him go collect’. Under the constitution of Nigeria, we equal to am. Him nor be anybody. He is just an ordinary citizen just like Dr. Asari.”
Worried about the former militant’s daring, Nigerians have since taken to social media to call him out. Monitored on Linda Ikeji blog, below are some of the responses to Dokubo’s most recent outrage.
“This is what happens when cretins are given power,” a commentator replied and then wondered: “Shouldn’t Asari be in jail?”
The longest response was posted by a Nigerian lawyer who claimed to have listed ten criminal offences in Dokubo’s possession of firearms and leading a militia. “1.Are all those ammunitions registered and to whom? The last I checked, only police and other armed parastatals can hold AK and they are all registered with a number. 2. Unlawful gathering, while little communities are allowed to set up vigilantes there are strict rules to these and police must be informed of any gatherings aimed at security? Was this reported? 3. Threat to life. He publicly called the governor’s name and made inflammatory remarks that can be legally interpreted as a threat. 4. Terrorism. Under the terrorism act any gathering that can upset the sovereign of the country is terror. Governors are also protected and terrorism on a state is terrorism to the country. 5. Defamation. He publicly stated that the governor got there by rigging. That is a statement only a tribunal can make after a hearing. 6. Illegal conduct. His conduct is unlawful and can be interpreted as spurring on violence. 7. Disturbing the peace. Again his conduct can threaten peaceful co-existence. 8. Resisting arrest. If truly the governor ordered his outfit be disbanded he is publicly resisting arrest. 9. Insubordination. A governor like it or not is the number one citizen of the state. His status cannot be degraded upon publicly. I’m not a politician just stating legal facts. He is protected by the constitution and any attempt to undermine that position publicly can legally be interpreted as insubordination. 10. Threat to life. His actions can create anarchy that can lead to loss of lives. Now these confirmed charges are from this videos alone! Not to mention what can be found after an investigation and search warrant. This is totally unacceptable. And a man was arrested commando style and kept in detention for almost two weeks just because he had a double barrel. Joke of a country. Are we still this gullible as a nation to sit and be bystanders as a ticking bomb is counting down still allowing all these? Lawlessness leads to a failed state.”
Another pointedly asked: “How can the Nigeria Army, DSS and Police see this boastful criminal called Asari Dockubo and take their faces the other way round? Just yesterday, DSS was showing power, charging Emefiele, the former CBN governor for illegal possession of arms while Asari Dokubo is using even sophisticated guns and threatening the government and its people, threatening a tribe, even threatening a government, insulting the Nigeria Army, threatening a siting governor with guns. In fact, Nigeria Army, DSS and police are cowards, they only have power to maim, arrest and kill innocent Nigerians, shame on our military. They are cowards. Shame to our military, shame shame shame, they are cowards. Na only to arrest or kill the innocent Nigerians they have power, shame.”
JamJami wrote that “Tinubu is hiding behind Rivers state governor to handle Asari and his illegal private army rather than deal with it directly from Abuja. Typical Yoruba mentality. Let’s hope that Rivers state will not be on fire because of Tinubu’s maneuvers. It’s Tinubu’s buddy-buddy relation with Asari that is causing all these chaos in Rivers state.”
Another responder confessed that “No be today. My parents lost their home to Asari and the other one who is now a king in Okrika – Ateke Tom. They have the support of many political elite. Their hands are soiled with the blood of the many people they killed for them and the crude they export for them. Na so. Failed state in denial about its failure.”
One other responder couldn’t resist declaring that not restraining Dokubo is the “beginning of the division of Nigeria. Yet Emefiele was arraigned for possession of a Dane gun.”
About the Author
