Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, (HURIWA), on Tuesday, called for the arrest and prosecution of the immediate-past President, Muhammadu Buhari, for allegedly commissioning armed mercenaries operated by an ex-Niger Delta agitator, Asari Dokubo, to replace the properly constituted and constitutionally recognized Nigerian Army.

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, said Asari Dokubo must be arrested by the Department of State Services or any other relevant security agency over illegal possession of firearms brandished in viral videos and over his suspected link to the violent phenomenon of 'unknown gunmen' in the South-East.

Earlier in June 2023, Asari Dokubo made startling revelations when he visited President Bola Tinubu at the Aṣọ Villa in Abuja. The ex-militant said, "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."

Also, in a viral video, Asari Dokubo brandished multiple AK-47 rifles and threatened to kill Igbos because they supported Labour Party’s Peter Obi in the February 25, 2023 presidential poll against the ex-militant’s preferred candidate in the person of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu.

Asari Dokubo, in broad daylight, brandished AK-47 rifles as seen in the viral video which has been verified as authentic by media houses, adding that the ex-militant should be immediately picked for gunrunning and threatening to kill the Igbo people.

To show his deep-seated hate for the Igbo people, Asari Dokubo publicly requested that the President should not release leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.

The ex-agitator was also seen in a viral video addressing his gang members of about 300 militants after his return from a pilgrimage to Mecca, saying he and his comrades are working for President Tinubu and anyone seeking his downfall will be smashed.

A former Senator who represented Kaduna Central in the 8th National Assembly, Shehu Sani subsequently condemned the private army assembled by Asari Dokubo, saying Tinubu should not directly or indirectly permit or support the emergence of state-backed private armed militia in a tweet he posted on Monday.

HURIWA’s Onwubiko said, “President Bola Tinubu does not need any mercenary from the stable of Asari Dokubo, an ex-Niger Delta agitator notorious for many infamous actions and alleged subversive activities which may include alleged gun trafficking which resulted in the creating an amnesty programme far back by the then Umaru Musa Yaradua/Goodluck Jonathan administration. Why in the first instance does Tinubu need a private security firm when the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Army, the Department of State Services, and over 15 other security agencies are operational in the country? Is Tinubu not creating a security nightmare for everyone one of us?

“We warn again that allowing Asari Dokubo to continue his open show of illegality is high treason. We also seek the arrest and prosecution of immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari for allegedly commissioning armed mercenaries operated by Asari Dokubo to replace the properly constituted Army as disclosed by Asari Dokubo himself just as members of the National Assembly should bury their faces in shame for doing nothing when democracy is endangered.”

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