Founder and President/Chief Executive of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has voiced alarm over what he described as deliberate sabotage within Nigeria’s downstream oil sector.
Dangote, speaking with journalists during a briefing on Sunday, detailed several alleged incidents of sabotage affecting both his refinery and government-owned facilities.
The business mogul warned that entrenched cartels in the sector constitute a “bigger threat than drug mafias.”
He pointed to occurrences at his Lekki refinery, including the removal of spare components from a 400-ton boiler, which he said is the largest of its kind ever constructed.
“If I tell you the sabotages that we went through, including some of the machine manufacturers that were on the verge of going to court, you will know what I’m saying.
“Drug mafias are actually smaller than the people who are in oil and gas. They have robbed so many people in this sector,” he added.
Dangote further drew attention to the widespread destruction of pipeline infrastructure nationwide.
He alleged that depots stretching from Kano to other states were intentionally damaged, insisting the incidents were not caused by natural factors.
“You are talking about sabotage, and I’m happy that you are also here in Nigeria. I don’t know if Mele Kyari [former NNPCL GCEO] is still in town, but I think you should go to his house in Maitama and ask him how many sabotages the Port Harcourt refinery repairs went through.
“He told me many times that they have had more than 100 sabotages at the refinery. You can ask him, and he will tell you. How come now, for example, all the pipelines that were built, right from the military base to date, none of them are functioning?
“The one that we have, which is from where I am from, Kano, that depot, we were not using trucks. The depots were only going to the trucks to load. Everything was piped up to that. 22 depots were built. They are all piped, all 22 depots.
“Actually, even the sediments don’t have it anymore. They have destroyed the pipes, all of them. So, if it is not sabotage, is that an earthquake? It’s not an earthquake now, because it’s sabotage. Sabotage is sabotage. So, that is what it is,” Dangote stated.
‘Lost $82m Items To Theft’
The industrialist also placed a figure on the losses his refinery has suffered due to theft and sabotage.
“In this refinery, we have lost maybe $82 million of stolen items. They were actually trying to make us put massive claims on insurance. Continuously, our insurance premiums will just keep going up. Yes, there is sabotage”, he said.
Dangote explained that the facility operates under intense security, noting that more than 2,000 security personnel are deployed — exceeding the number of staff directly involved in production.
“People will come here with long pieces of cord cables and put [them] on their bodies to try and see how they can take it out. And we answer, ‘Okay, fine, what are you doing with it?’ It’s just sabotage,” he said.
The group CEO cautioned that the magnitude of organised theft and sabotage in the oil and gas industry poses a grave risk to output and the nation’s economic stability.
“You should ask all the people who have ever built modular refineries. I challenge any one of them to say that nothing was stolen. That’s why we have more security people than actual workers,” he said.
In October 2025, Devakumar Edwin, Vice President of Dangote Industries Limited, revealed that since operations began, the refinery had recorded 22 attempted physical sabotage incidents.
Members of PENGASSAN later staged protests, chanting solidarity songs to press their demands.
The company linked some of the security breaches to a large-scale restructuring and the disengagement of about 800 workers, a move that sparked a brief strike by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).
Several critics criticised the restructuring and alleged sabotage claims, arguing that refinery workers were unfairly targeted over union-related activities.’