Dickson, who is a Senator representing Bayelsa West in the National Assembly made this disclosure when he appeared on “Inside Sources” with Laolu Akande, a socio-political show which was broadcast on Channels Television on Friday.
Former governor of Bayelsa State and serving Senator, Seriake Dickson, has charged top persons living in Lagos and Abuja as masterminds of the oil theft on the Niger Delta terrain.
Dickson, who is a Senator representing Bayelsa West in the National Assembly made this disclosure when he appeared on “Inside Sources” with Laolu Akande, a socio-political show which was broadcast on Channels Television on Friday.
He went on to claim that the official system and oil businesses benefit from oil theft in the Niger Delta, and he bemoaned the absence of national values that drives individuals to abuse the country’s resources for personal gain.
Dickson added, “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 intentional.
“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 argued that, just as the world came together to condemn stolen blood diamonds, a universal consensus should arise to push the international community to reject stolen crude oil from Nigeria.
Dickson, therefore, encouraged authorities at all levels to exhibit strong political determination in order to put a stop to the deadly trend of oil theft.