Why I Was Arrested - Asari Dokubo

Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, Leader of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force, on Saturday recounted his ordeal in the hands of Ben noise Gendarmes (Police) in the Republic of Benin and his subsequent release.

He said: “I was going to the clinic to pick my baby. I was very busy when my car was stopped and the next thing I saw; I was whisked away. I was hopeless when I was in the cell. I was standing for 24 hours. I was hopeless in the cell.  I was chained to the bar and did not sit down for 24 hours. I was praying to Allah  because Allah delivered Jonah from the belly of  the whale.

“I have 194 students on my scholarship in secondary school, 52 people on my scholarship in higher institution. I said if I am doing it genuinely for you oh Allah, deliver me from this problem that I have found myself.

“The period I was in detention, they did not allow me to go, so if I want to urinate, I did that inside my cell. It was a hopeless situation. But 10 o’clock in the morning when they opened the door and removed the handcuff, the first thing I said was Alhamdulillah. This is because it was so hopeless; all the people who came to see me, all my staff were all arrested.

“What they wanted was that I should be totally incommunicado so that nobody would tell the outside world that I have been arrested or been kept anywhere. But in all that, Allah found a way for me and bailed me out. So, this is sad. I have been arrested over 70 times.”

'Why I was arrested'

Apart from the political undertone, which, he claimed was part of the reasons for his arrest, the NDVF leader said, the Bennoise authorities  said he was the founder of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram that had over the years terrorized some parts of the North.

“Just recently I was arrested at the Republic of Benin ,some people thought my university will close their university. They said I’m an English speaking person and my schools are doing very well. They are tri-lingual, English, French and Arabic and so many people are getting attracted.

“So they reported and so on. With the way they had planned it, there was no way that I could be released. They carried my visa, my businesses were closed down. They said that I am the founder of Boko Haram. That was the charges that they gave to me; that I am the founder of Boko Haram.

"That I built some mosques in Benin Republic, they closed down the mosques. They said  that why should I be building mosques in my schools. I was left incommunicado. All my staff were arrested .That showed how faithful Allah has been to me. I‘ve been to many tight corners and without Allah I wouldn’t have come out.”

He, however, added that there was the possibility that his arrest might be the handiwork of some desperate politicians based on his stance on the 2015 presidential election.

“There is the possibility that the hands of politicians might be there because of my position in support of Goodluck. Because so many people are desperate, they are not trying to take power on behalf of the people, but to fill their pockets and fill their stomach. For that they can kill, they can go to any length in getting power. So I will not be surprised if political interest  was brought  to bear,” Asari said.