Politicians and military leaders — not militants — are responsible for the majority of oil thefts in Nigeria's crude-rich southern delta, according to a U.S. diplomatic cable quoting a Nigerian official and released by WikiLeaks.
A member of a government panel on troubles in nation's Niger Delta implicated Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, a general whose brother became president, and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar as being the biggest forces behind the thefts, the cable claims. Those thefts also fuel arms sales to the restive region while causing environmental damage and cutting production in a nation crucial to U.S. oil supplies.
"It is in the interests of these people to make it appear that the Niger Delta problem is intractable," the Jan. 2009 cable quotes panel member Tony Uranta as saying. "As a result, they prop up the militants, including some who have an ideological basis for their actions."
Abubakar, who ran unsuccessfully this year as a presidential candidate in a ruling-party primary, denied the allegations Monday.
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