Hundreds of Nigerians under the platform of George Uboh Whistle-blowers Network have stormed the NNPC Towers in Abuja, headquarters of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited to demand accountability.
The protesters asked for an explanation regarding the whereabouts of 48 million barrels of crude oil allegedly stolen and sold in China under the leadership of Mele Kyari.
Kyari is the Group Managing Director of NNPCL.
The protesters displayed placards and chanted as they demanded answers to their questions.
They asked Kyari to disclose the whereabouts of the unaccounted crude oil reportedly shipped to China.
Some of the placards and banners read: “George Uboh Whistle-blowers Network has won the battle, Mele Kyari remit 4.8 million USD to the suffering Nigerian masses,” “Mele Kyari where is the stolen 4.8 million barrels of crude oil as directed by the Court.”
Addressing journalists at the NNPCL headquarters, Uboh said the protesters are poor Nigerians and will not back down until Mele Kyari obeys the court order and publishes the whereabouts of the proceeds of the sale of the Bonny light crude oil allegedly stolen and taken to China under his watch.
He said it was important to do so in the interest of the public.
He said, “The Federal Capital Territory High Court has ordered Mele Kyari to disclose and publish in the public interest the whereabouts of the proceeds of the sale of 48m barrels of Bonny light crude oil stolen in Nigeria and stored in China under the watch of Mele Kyari’s watch.”
He regretted that Kyari had disregarded the court order, an act Uboh said smacked of “aristocratic arrogance”.
He maintained, “We will not leave here until Mele Kyari discloses and publishes in the public interest the whereabouts of the proceeds which at $100 per barrels translates to $4.8b. We shall leave the criminal angle to the law enforcement agencies, given the fact that the court used the term ‘stolen’.
“Mele Kyari must show us where he kept the $4.8b which belongs to all Nigerians in the homeland and in the diaspora,” he insisted.
