Presidency Intervenes In Dokubo-Asari’s Arrest

President Goodluck Jonathan is believed to have intervened in the

arrest, Tuesday, of Alhaji Muhajeed Dokubo-Asari by the government of

Republic of Benin.

Presidency sources told Daily Independent on Wednesday that the

president had sought for details of why Dokubo-Asari was taken in by

the Benin Republic gendarmes through the Nigerian Ambassador to that

country.

The ex-militant was reportedly arrested around the Lubeleyi roundabout

between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Tuesday and taken to an unknown

destination, according to his lawyer, Festus Kayamo, who in a

statement said, "Dokubo-Asari carries on legitimate business and has

been living partly in Benin Republic for many years now."

"In fact, he owns houses, schools and an academy in that country. All

these places have been searched as at this evening (Tuesday) and

nothing incriminating found," Keyamo stated.

When Daily Independent spoke to Keyamo on Wednesday, he reiterated

that "no official issue" had been established against his client, even

though he did not rule out "political undertone" in the entire saga.

Explaining that his office had written to the presidency on the

development, Kayamo said it was not unlikely the intervention was on

the strength of his petition.

Regardless, we got it on good authority that President Jonathan had

directed the appropriate offices in the presidency to follow up on the

matter with a view to getting the right insight into the nature of the

alleged offence before throwing his weight behind the controversial

Nigerian.

Our dependable source told us that President Jonathan had been getting

several calls since the arrest was reported, from those who believe

early presidential intervention had become necessary.

Most of the calls, we were told, were from prominent persons from the

South South area of the country where Dokubo-Asari hails from.

Dokubo-Asari is a major political figure of the Ijaw ethnic group in

the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. He was president of the Ijaw Youth

Council (IYC) for a time beginning in 2001 and later founded the Niger

Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF) which would become one of the

most prominent armed groups operating in the Niger Delta region. He is

a Muslim with populist views and an anti-government stance that have

made him a folk hero amongst certain members of the local population.

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