Nigerians from all walks of life have condemned the continued detention of the Chairman of Capital Oil and Gas Industries
Limited, Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, by the Department of State Services (DSS) over a business transaction between his firm and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
They expressed their views during a call-in programme in the Nigeria Info 95.1FM which featured Mr. Ikechukwu Onyia, the Special Assistant on Media to Dr. Ubah.
After listening to Onyia’s com prehensive explanation that what transpired between Capital Oil and the NNPC was a business transaction, one of the callers said that if the multi-billionaire businessman was being humiliated in this way, “Nigeria is not worth dying for.” In line with the order of the Federal High Court, Lagos, the DSS is expected to present Ubah in court today to show why he should not be released unconditionally.
Also, in a separate reaction to Ubah’s ordeal, former Anambra State Governor, Okwadike Chukwuemeka Ezeife, asked: “How does a dispute about who owes who and how much, between the NNPC and Capital Oil, become a national security issue? Is there no differentiation of roles among law enforcement agencies – the Police, the DSS, EFCC, etc.? Is there no longer a distinction between civil and criminal matters/offences? Totalitarianism takes over where compartmentalisation of roles dis appears.”
In the radio programme, a caller asked the security agency to respect the rights of Nigerians by following the due process of the law. Ubah was arrested and detained by the DSS over an allegation that he sold fuel belonging to the NNPC valued at N11 billion.
But Capital Oil, on the other hand, said that the NNPC owes it N16 billion, which it refused to pay after repeated demands. Onyia showed documents to prove that NNPC truly owed the debt.
Another caller averred that Ubah’s ordeal may not be unrelated to his association with the former President Goodluck Jonathan through his Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) during the 2015 general elections.
Another caller declared that it was unjust for the Federal Government to owe one firm N16 billion, stressing that the aim was for the company to close shop and its employees thrown into the labour market.
However, he advised Ubah to endure the persecution by the DSS, saying that the courts would definitely release him. Also, another caller flayed the NNPC and DSS for the uncivilised treatment being meted to Ubah, insisting that the proper thing to do was to charge him to court without arresting and attempting to vilify him.
A female caller, who accused the DSS of embarking on the media trial of Ubah, said: “Nigeria is not worth dying for. Subjecting Ubah to media trial and trying to destroy his name is unfair. He should be tried in court and if found guilty or not, he should be given what belongs to him. The DSS should follow the rule of law. He should not be detained unnecessarily.”
During the interview, Onyia told the audience that, “The DSS picked up Ubah the moment they were served court papers on Ubah seeking the enforcement of his fundamental human rights. The NNPC has something to hide and are using the DSS to harass Ubah to silence him. Ubah is a genuine businessman. You may hate him as a person, you may hate Capital Oil, but the issue at stake is the economy and the employees being thrown out of work.”
“Government should respect business processes. This is where NNPC has failed and has resorted to using the DSS to harass Ubah. The Throughput Agreement allows the one in custody of the product to use it and produce it on demand. Where there is any default, the courts are the final arbiters. A debt of N16 billion is the biggest economic sabotage. The NNPC should explain why it is indebted to Capital Oil to the tune of N16 billion”.
Onyia pointed out that the Ubah had played serious roles in the past to avert fuel crisis in the country, declaring that “it is a case of falsehood to accuse him of economic sabotage and attempting to incite petroleum tanker drivers to embark on a strike.”
“Capital Oil and the NNPC are legal entities. Ubah is not the person that should be arrested and detained over a legal transaction by two legal bodies. The DSS is only entertaining Nigerians with falsehood. Why are Nigerians not asking the government to pay Capital Oil the N16 billion debt?” Onyia queried.
“A debt of N16 billion is the biggest economic sabotage. It is the biggest corruption. The NNPC should be made to explain why it is owing Capital Oil N16 billion,” he said.
According to Onyia, one Muhammad Abdulkadir, an official of the Tanker Drivers’ Association, has denied that Ubah incited them.
Abubakar had, in a statement the union issued on the DSS allegation, said: “Ubah did not incite us. We performed our responsibility to our members.” Onyia, however, insisted that: “You cannot call me a thief where you are owing me. The DSS is not the umpire. It is a commercial conflict. The NNPC was not forced into the deal.”
“The DSS should not be involved. They are intimidating Ubah. The government should stop killing the private sector. The government indicated interest to deregulate the sector and Capital Oil moved ahead. The government reneged and those who invested in the line were not compensated”.
Meanwhile, a group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has asked the international community to intervene in the current “state-sponsored abductions, arbitrary arrests and illegal detentions in dungeons and surreptitious raids by the federal secret police.”
In a statement issued on Thursday, HURIWA urged global leaders to save Nigeria from “relapsing into civilian tyranny similar to the military dictatorship witnessed in the past.”
HURIWA said its appeal to the world leaders was prompted by the arrest of Ubah by the DSS over a pure business transaction with the NNPC.
It specifically appealed to the United Nations Organisation (UN Security Council), President Donald Trump of the United States, Mrs. Theresa May, the Prime Minister of Great Britain and the German Chancellor, Mrs. Angela Merkel, “to intervene and halt the steady descent of Nigeria into dic tatorship and police state.”
