In a fresh appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari to reexamine the burning of MT Deino, the National Association of Seadogs, Pyrates Confraternity has sought the dismissal of General Lucky Irabor, the Chief of Defence Staff.
Following its detention, the Nigerian Navy set fire to the ship, sparking outrage and dividing parties.
The NAS Capoon, Mr. Abiola Owoaje, criticized General Irabor for defending the ship outside the bounds of the law in a press release titled “General Irabor’s Ignoble Defence of Impunity.”
“The National Association of Seadogs (Pyrates Confraternity) considers this defence of official impunity by General Irabor as unconvincing and defective. The reference to ambiguous and spurious “rules of engagement” is an untenable and unacceptable defence of the destruction of potential criminal exhibits and an illegal conflation of the roles of accuser and judge. It is worth emphasising that General Irabor has not made reference to any known law of the land which confers on the military the power to destroy vessels arrested for oil theft arbitrarily,” he said.
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The quick destruction of the MT Deino and its cargo has stoked widespread fears of government complicity with criminals involved in oil theft, according to Owoaje, who noted that all military commanders participating in the burning have violated Section 111 of the Armed Forces Act.
He emphasized that Irabor can no longer be trusted with the fight against oil theft while pointing out that the burning of the vessel carrying the stolen crude oil has contributed to the environmental destruction of the Niger Delta region.
He said that freeing Irabor from his CDS responsibilities would allow an unbiased probe into the events leading up to the burning of the vessel.
In order to protect the environment and increase revenue for the government, Owoaje also backed the concept of constructing a tank farm to hold stolen crude that may be sold on court orders.
Because “Nigerians would not accept anything less,” he claimed, the issue of the burning of the vessel gives a chance for the government to show that it is serious about combating oil theft.
The National Association of Seadogs (Pyrates Confraternity) demanded that General Irabor be fired as CDS in order to revisit the burning vessel situation, according to the statement.
His defense of unlawful activity committed by personnel under him paints him as someone who cannot be trusted in the Federal Government’s ongoing campaign against oil theft.
His dismissal from office would guarantee that a panel set up to look into the events surrounding the vessel’s actual burning could proceed without interference and identify all the officers involved in the act so that they could be brought to justice.
To show how serious the Federal Government takes the battle against crude oil theft, they further call for the full public disclosure of investigations into the identities of the vessel’s owners and the prompt prosecution of the Captain and the crew of the MT Deino.
