The South East Revival Group (SERG) has called on the Federal Government
\nof Nigeria to immediately order the Department of State Services (DSS) to
\nfree the Managing Director of Capital Oil and Gas Limited, Dr. Patrick
\nIfeanyi Ubah.<\/p>\n
While strongly condemning his arrest and continued incarceration by the
\nService, the group in a statement signed its Convener and National
\nCoordinator, Chief Willy Ezugwu, described what transpired between Capital
\nOil and NNPC as purely commercial transaction that is being needlessly
\ncriminalized.<\/p>\n
Parts of the statement read: \u201cThere is no reason why Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah
\nshould be humiliated in a purely commercial dispute.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe DSS claimed that he was arrested and detained over his refusal to
\nremit N11 billion realised from sales of petroleum products stored in his
\nfacility by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and that he
\nwas engaging in acts inimical to national security and inciting members of
\nthe Petroleum Tanker Drivers Union to stop lifting petroleum products so
\nas to cripple the economy and cause untold hardship to Nigerians.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the record, Ifeanyi Ubah\u2019s Capital Oil has storage facilities for
\nover 40 percent of Nigeria\u2019s daily fuel consumption. So, it is laughable
\nfor the DSS to accuse Dr Ubah of engaging in acts inimical to national
\nsecurity and inciting members of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers Union to
\nstop lifting petroleum products so as to cripple the economy and cause
\nuntold hardship to Nigerians when the same man assisted the present
\ngovernment to end fuel scarcity and economic sabotage less than two years
\nago.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Ifeanyi Ubah single handedly ended the fuel scarcity that was
\ninherited by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration before the
\ngovernment removed petrol subsidy, it is even more comical to accuse him
\nof inciting tanker drivers union to stop lifting petroleum products.<\/p>\n
\u201cIfeanyi Ubah has shown patriotism and love for the suffering masses of
\nthe country by his several interventions that brought petroleum products
\nscarcity to an end.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are all living witnesses that at different critical times, Dr. Ifeanyi
\nUbah intervened to end scarcity of Kerosene, especially in the Northern
\nparts of the country. How else can a man show patriotism to his
\nfatherland?<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat the DSS should know is that Nigeria is under democracy and the
\nfundamental human rights of all citizens to freedom of association and
\nmovement must be guaranteed at all time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the DSS believes that Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah committed any crime against the
\nState, he should be charged to court forthwith. The DSS cannot be a Judge
\nin its own case.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have not forgotten how the DSS invaded the residents of some Judges
\nand made several allegations it could not prove in court.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy is the DSS detaining Ifeanyi Ubah indefinitely in a purely commercial
\ndispute between two legal entities? It is unlawful for the DSS to hold
\nIfeanyi Ubah in its custody since May 5, 2017 despite an order to produce
\nhim in court.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the first place, the commercial dispute is between Capital Oil and Gas
\nLimited and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) which is
\nneedless criminalising when the two companies have records that can be
\neasily reconciled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe oil merchant, Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah, has insisted that the NNPC is
\nindebted to his company to the tune of sixteen billion naira (N16
\nbillion), while the DSS is claiming that Ubah\u2019s company owes NNPC eleven
\nbillion naira (N11 billion). It is a question of looking into the records
\nand getting the claims and counter claims reconciled amicably.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe therefore calbl on Acting President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, to
\nimmediately order Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah\u2019s unconditional release as his
\ncontinued detention without trial is making us a laughing stock among the
\ncomity of nations. It is even worse when the DSS refused to produce the
\naccused person in court\u201d, the SERG stated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24947,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n