Many Nigerians who believe in a famous legal principle, “equality before the law,” must have thought that the country’s authorities would immediately arrest Asari Dokubo, a former Niger Delta Militant, for brandishing rifles in a video clip.
But they were wrong!
More than eight months after the clip surfaced online, Mr Dokubo was yet to be arrested or summoned for questioning.
Instead, the former militant leader has been hobnobbing with the country’s authorities despite brandishing the rifles in clear violation of Nigerian law.
The video clip began trending on 18 June, about four days after he met with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, whom he supported during the 25 February presidential election.
But an independent investigation it was found that Mr Dokubo released the clip in late September 2022, but it first went viral days later in October, about eight months ago.
The clip appeared on a YouTube page on 1 October 2022.
The viral clip
In the video clip, Mr Dokubo was heard calling the Igbos “slaves”, whom he said he would have continued to “sell” if not for the intervention of the British government.
The former militant leader, who spoke on varied issues, brandished two AK-47 rifles while threatening to kill all Igbos, an ethnic group predominant in Nigeria’s South-east.
Mr Dokubo is a Kalabari, a part of the Ijaw ethnic nationality in Rivers State, Nigeria’s South-south.
The former militant leader equally mocked the Igbos, saying they were “dying” in large numbers.
“You will do a video to sell that Alhaji has run away? Are you seeing me? I don’t run,” Mr Dokubo stated, apparently referring to himself, as he brandished the AK-47 rifle.
Excerpt from premiumtimes.ng
