Asari replies General Danjuma telling him to return Ijaw oil for demanding his arrest .

FORMER Niger Delta militant leader Alhaji Asari Dokubo has hit back at ex-defence minister General Theophilus Danjuma who called for his arrest for threatening mayhem if President Goodluck Jonathan loses the election asking the general to return his oil wells.

Yesterday, General Danjuma, who had also served as Nigeria's chief of army staff, called for the arrest of Alhaji Dokubo and other Niger Delta militant leaders like Victor Ebikabowei alias Boyloaf, Government Ekpudomenowei, alias Tompolo and Ijaw Youth Council president Udengs Eradiri for threatening to declare war if President Jonathan loses the February 14 election.

At a recent meeting in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, the militants threatened to stop the flow of oil if their kinsman President Jonathan, is not re-elected. General Danjuma, who described the threat as unguarded and reckless, warned that miscreants must not be allowed to hold the country by the jugular. Arguing that Nigeria and its resources belonged to everyone, the former defence minister, urged the necessary government agencies to immediately arrest the ex-militants.

“You should arrest Asari Dokubo, Tompolo, Boyloaf and other Niger Delta militants for making reckless statements, which in any way does not mean keeping Nigeria as one entity. They create a war situation and those were reckless statements coming from irresponsible individuals, who should be condemned and arrested immediately,” General Danjuma said.

However, in a swift response, Alhaji Dokubo said: "Theophilus Danjuma should return Ijaw oil before calling for my arrest. He’s a Gambari slave.” General Danjuma is a major player in the Nigerian oil industry, as in 2006 he divested his investment in the Akpo oil field to the China National Offshore Oil Corporation for $1bn.

In February 1988, former head of state General Sani Abacha, awarded an oil prospecting license for the sprawling oil filed covering 590 square kilometres to General Danjuma's company Sapetro.

Referring to the general as a northerner, who had benefitted from Nigeria Delta oil in a manner in which local Ijaw people had not, Alhaji Dokubo said he has no moral right to talk.

At the Yenagoa meeting, Alhaji Dokubo called for an end to what he termed, the intimidation of the Ijaw by other Nigerians.

However, General Danjuma disagreed with them, adding that they are just heating up the polity unnecessarily, adding that the Niger Delta militants are just miscreants trying to hold the nation to ransom.

He also called on politicians to guard their utterances during their campaigns and desist from making inflammatory remarks. See more