Aliko Dangote, Founder and President of the Dangote Group, has alleged widespread sabotage in Nigeria’s downstream oil and gas sector, warning that organised cartels pose a serious threat to production and national economic security.
Dangote made the allegation while speaking with journalists at a briefing, where he recounted repeated incidents of sabotage affecting both his Lekki refinery and government-owned refineries across the country.
He described the actors behind the sabotage as highly organised, insisting that their activities are more damaging than those of drug trafficking networks.
“If I tell you the sabotages that we went through, including some of the machine manufacturers that were almost taken to court, you will understand the scale of what we are dealing with,” Dangote said.
According to him, critical components were deliberately removed from key equipment at the Lekki refinery, including spare parts from a 400-ton boiler, which he said is the largest of its kind ever built.
“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 also drew attention to the extensive destruction of pipeline infrastructure nationwide, alleging that the damage was deliberate rather than accidental.
He claimed that pipelines linking depots across several states, including Kano, were systematically vandalised despite being fully functional in the past.
“There were 22 depots that were fully piped. Products moved through pipelines without the need for trucks. Today, all those pipes have been destroyed,” he said.
Questioning the cause of the damage, Dangote dismissed any suggestion of natural causes.
“If it is not sabotage, is it an earthquake? It is not an earthquake. Sabotage is sabotage,” he stated.
He further alleged that the Port Harcourt refinery rehabilitation suffered repeated disruptions, claiming that former NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, had told him the facility experienced more than 100 sabotage incidents during repairs.
The businessman disclosed that his refinery alone had suffered losses running into millions of dollars due to theft and sabotage.
“In this refinery, we have lost about 82 million dollars worth of stolen items. The intention was to force us into making huge insurance claims, which would only drive up our premiums,” he said.
Dangote explained that the scale of the problem had forced the company to adopt extraordinary security measures, including deploying more security personnel than production staff at the refinery.
“We have over 2,000 security personnel here. People try to smuggle materials out by strapping cables to their bodies. That is pure sabotage,” he said.
He warned that such acts pose a grave risk not only to private investments but also to Nigeria’s energy security and economic stability.
“You can ask anyone who has built a modular refinery in this country if nothing was stolen. That is why security has become a major cost,” Dangote added.
The Dangote Petroleum Refinery, which was commissioned in May 2023, has been at the centre of Nigeria’s efforts to reduce fuel imports and stabilise the downstream sector.
In October 2025, the Vice President of Dangote Industries Limited, Devakumar Edwin, revealed that the refinery had recorded 22 attempted physical sabotage incidents since it began operations.
