The South East Revival Group (SERG) has called on the Federal Government
of Nigeria to immediately order the Department of State Services (DSS) to
free the Managing Director of Capital Oil and Gas Limited, Dr. Patrick
Ifeanyi Ubah.
While strongly condemning his arrest and continued incarceration by the
Service, the group in a statement signed its Convener and National
Coordinator, Chief Willy Ezugwu, described what transpired between Capital
Oil and NNPC as purely commercial transaction that is being needlessly
criminalized.
Parts of the statement read: “There is no reason why Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah
should be humiliated in a purely commercial dispute.
“The DSS claimed that he was arrested and detained over his refusal to
remit N11 billion realised from sales of petroleum products stored in his
facility by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and that he
was engaging in acts inimical to national security and inciting members of
the Petroleum Tanker Drivers Union to stop lifting petroleum products so
as to cripple the economy and cause untold hardship to Nigerians.
“For the record, Ifeanyi Ubah’s Capital Oil has storage facilities for
over 40 percent of Nigeria’s daily fuel consumption. So, it is laughable
for the DSS to accuse Dr Ubah of engaging in acts inimical to national
security and inciting members of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers Union to
stop lifting petroleum products so as to cripple the economy and cause
untold hardship to Nigerians when the same man assisted the present
government to end fuel scarcity and economic sabotage less than two years
ago.
“If Ifeanyi Ubah single handedly ended the fuel scarcity that was
inherited by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration before the
government removed petrol subsidy, it is even more comical to accuse him
of inciting tanker drivers union to stop lifting petroleum products.
“Ifeanyi Ubah has shown patriotism and love for the suffering masses of
the country by his several interventions that brought petroleum products
scarcity to an end.
“We are all living witnesses that at different critical times, Dr. Ifeanyi
Ubah intervened to end scarcity of Kerosene, especially in the Northern
parts of the country. How else can a man show patriotism to his
fatherland?
“What the DSS should know is that Nigeria is under democracy and the
fundamental human rights of all citizens to freedom of association and
movement must be guaranteed at all time.
“If the DSS believes that Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah committed any crime against the
State, he should be charged to court forthwith. The DSS cannot be a Judge
in its own case.
“We have not forgotten how the DSS invaded the residents of some Judges
and made several allegations it could not prove in court.
“Why is the DSS detaining Ifeanyi Ubah indefinitely in a purely commercial
dispute between two legal entities? It is unlawful for the DSS to hold
Ifeanyi Ubah in its custody since May 5, 2017 despite an order to produce
him in court.
“In the first place, the commercial dispute is between Capital Oil and Gas
Limited and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) which is
needless criminalising when the two companies have records that can be
easily reconciled.
“The oil merchant, Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah, has insisted that the NNPC is
indebted to his company to the tune of sixteen billion naira (N16
billion), while the DSS is claiming that Ubah’s company owes NNPC eleven
billion naira (N11 billion). It is a question of looking into the records
and getting the claims and counter claims reconciled amicably.
“We therefore calbl on Acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, to
immediately order Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah’s unconditional release as his
continued detention without trial is making us a laughing stock among the
comity of nations. It is even worse when the DSS refused to produce the
accused person in court”, the SERG stated.