Leader of Niger Delta Volunteer Force, Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo Asari, has gone underground , accusing the federal government of plotting to kill him through those he described as hired assasins.
Asari said the plan to eliminate him was part of a possible plot to destabilise Niger Delta and hence suppress the sustained agitation for resource control by the people.
A close associate of the former militant, Nanawe Igbanibo made this known in Abuja weekend on behalf of Asari-Dokubo whom he said had had to go underground when the threats became intense.
Igbanibo in a press statement made available to THISDAY in Abuja said of late, the man who voluntarily quit militant activities several months ago has been put under surveillance by undercover security operatives whom he said were suspected to be working for the federal government.
According to him ” Asari got to know of the plot to assassinate him after noticing that his movements were being trailed, while he, (Asari) has been receiving strange telephone calls with warning that he should avoid public outings if he was to avoid being eliminated.
Igbanibo explained that some of Asari’s friends from the government circles had also advised him to be watching his back if only to guarantee his personal security.
He alluded to the earlier raiding and ransacking of Asari’s residence in Abuja as a signal to the plot to eliminate him, stressing that Asari himself and his sympathizers were shocked when the security operatives denied ever sending any of their men on such a mission.
The statement stated further: “The invading team had all the arms of the security organizations represented and they were armed to the teeth. As we speak, this government has not come out to state any tangible reasons for the raid. All those who spoke denied knowledge and that’s the issue.
“When nothing incriminating was found after laying siege for close to ten hours, they pounced on Mujahid�s foreign partners who were assisting in putting together an automobile school/mechanic workshop and deported them.
“After series of harassments which culminated in the physical detention of Alhaji Dokubo Asari’s family during the last raid on his house, whilst he was busy hosting an economic conference in honour of Isaac Adaka Boro, we are forced to conclude that the Government of the day is bent on destabilizing the Niger Delta region through a plan to either eliminate Mujahid Dokubo Asari or smear his image here and abroad.”