...As Malafapha Destiny Questions Ribadu’s Silence Over US Interception of Nigerian-Owned Super Tanker Skipper

The Oppressed Citizens of the Niger Delta Region has issued a blistering rebuke against the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, over comments describing oil theft as the defining crisis of the Niger Delta. 

The rights advocacy group accused the security chief of exhibiting gross indifference to the historic grievances of the oil-producing enclave and demanded his immediate removal from office.

Addressing newsmen on behalf of the coalition, spokesperson Malafapha Destiny condemned a recent public statement where Ribadu declared, "if you want to solve Nigeria's problem, solve the Niger Delta problem fast," while explicitly referencing crude oil theft as the primary issue.

Destiny rejected the NSA’s characterization, describing it as a dangerous misrepresentation of the region’s long-standing struggle. 

According to the spokesperson, the fundamental driver of instability in the oil-rich hub is not the illicit siphoning of petroleum, but decades of systemic underdevelopment, economic strangulation, political marginalization, environmental destruction, and widespread insecurity.

"The NSA must understand that addressing the core socio-economic injustices of the Niger Delta is what will ultimately eliminate oil theft, and not the other way around," Destiny asserted. "Stopping crude theft will never end the agitation against deep-seated economic exploitation and neglect."

The group further alleged that the illegal oil trade is largely orchestrated by high-level actors within government institutions, security agencies, and officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL). 

Destiny argued that Ribadu’s focus on crude theft exposes a compromised agenda centered on protecting lucrative pipeline surveillance contracts awarded to monopolistic entities, rather than committing to structural reforms, fairness, and regional accountability.

Destiny also drew attention to a major maritime security incident involving a Nigerian-owned supertanker, the Skipper (a 20-year-old Very Large Crude Carrier, IMO Number 9304667, managed by Thomarose Global Ventures Ltd). 

The vessel was recently intercepted by the United States Coast Guard and the US Navy over allegations of crude theft, piracy, and transnational crime. 

The spokesperson questioned the NSA's complete silence and failure to initiate a formal investigation into the vessel, alleging that complicity at the highest levels of security leadership continues to shield illicit offshore bunkering operations in international waters.

The advocacy group further criticized the current administration's security architecture for shielding firm operators like Tantita Security Services. 

Destiny accused the firm of severe abuses, including operating illicit private detention facilities, human trafficking, and violence, while dominating surveillance contracts that ought to be decentralized across local communities to ensure transparency.

Calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to act decisively, Destiny demanded the immediate termination of Nuhu Ribadu’s appointment as National Security Adviser on grounds of gross negligence, conflict of interest, and the commodification of regional security.

The spokesperson emphasized that lasting peace and economic stability can only be achieved if the Presidency prioritizes decentralizing pipeline surveillance contracts across the entire region and directly addresses the systemic poverty, environmental degradation, and neglect that have plagued the Niger Delta for generations.