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| For Niger Delta militant leader and oil thief, Asari Dokubo. |
— PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria
Former Niger Delta militant leader Mujahid Asari Dokubo has faced sharp criticism from Igbo community groups after videos went viral in which he accuses Igbos and supporters of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of invading Rivers State, attacking northern Muslims, destroying property, and attempting to incite religious conflict.
The controversy erupted after a clash at a market in mid-February 2026 in the Oil Mill area of Port Harcourt, where a murder, described by police as that of a Benue man and a suspect of Hausa origin, sparked protests and unrest. Dokubo, in widely reported statements, reframed the incident as an “Igbo invasion” and warned the Igbo people against starting a “religious war” in the state, threatening retaliation with “I'll show them what I'm made of.”
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| Members of IIC rally in Rivers State, Nigeria. |
The Rivers State Igbo Indigenous Congress (IIC) condemned the comments as malicious, deceptive, and reckless, and demanded an immediate security investigation into Dokubo for hate speech and incitement. The group emphasized that the protests stemmed from local grievances of Rivers State Indigenous people, not Igbo, and stressed that the state's Igbo Indigenous communities are native people with ancestral roots, not invaders.
The Ohanaeze Ndi-Igbo section of Rivers State echoed the negative reaction, calling Dokubo’s video poisonous and inflammatory and unfounded, noting that the original incident involved non-Igbo groups (Benue and Hausa communities). Ohanaeze urged authorities to dismiss the accusations and prevent ethnic division.
The episode has heightened concerns about ethnic and religious tensions in the Niger Delta, an oil-rich region in Nigeria where diverse groups coexist amid historical grievances. Social media reactions reflect polarized opinions: some accuse Dokubo of deliberately manipulating unrelated incidents to target Igbo people, while others warn of potential retaliation.
As of February 21, 2026, no formal investigation by security agencies had been confirmed, though community leaders on both sides have called for calm, dialogue, and a rejection of divisive narratives to prevent escalation.