Mujahid Asari-Dokubo declares himself a Jihadist
By Ebere Inyama
(Rivers State) A former militant leader in the Niger – Delta region, Mujahid Asari – Dokubo, has declared himself a jihadist and an Islamic extremist.
Dokubo made this declaration on social media on 12 March, 2026, raising concern among Christians in southern Nigeria.
“I’m a Jihadist and an Islamic extremist, and I make no apologies to anyone,” Dokubo had said in a video.
The Niger – Delta states in Nigeria are the nine coastal southern Nigerian states which include Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross Rivers and Akwa Ibom, Delta, Abia, Imo and Ondo.
Journey to violent extremism
Melford Dokubo Goodhead Jr., converted to Islam after he dropped out of the University of Calabar in 1990, and subsequently adopted his new name, Mujahid Asari – Dokubo.
He converted to Islam so that he could train with terrorists in Libya, said Nigeria’s former minister of Mines and Power, Prof. David-West.
According to Andrew McGregor, Senior Editor of Jamestown’s Global Terrorism Analysis, Asari Dokubo was the first Nigerian to advocate amnesty for the Boko Haram terrorists of northern Nigeria.
Alleged link with the Nigerian army
Mujahid Asari – Dokubo claimed that he runs a private military company which collaborates with the government and operates alongside the military in various states of Nigeria, according to Ripples Nigeria.
But the Nigerian army refuted that claim.
A video posted on Facebook in 2023, showed Dokubo parading a group of armed militants whom he claimed were members of his private army.
A threat to Christians in the southeast
In October, 2023, Asari Dokubo was shown in a video on Youtube brandishing a military grade rifle and threatening Christians of southeastern Nigeria origin.
A threat to National economy
In a bid to protect the Rivers State pipelines and creeks, the federal government of Nigeria awarded an annual cash payment of $10 million to Asari and other former militant leaders of the Niger Delta as part of the federal “pipeline security protection fee”.
This move by the federal government under the administration of the late President Umaru Musa Yaradua in 2007 was made in response to threats by the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF) led by Asari Dokubo, to attack oil wells and pipelines in Rivers state.
The threats by NDPVF caused companies operating in the area to withdraw most of their personnel from the Rivers state, resulting in a massive drop in oil production of 30,000 barrels per day and pushing up the price of petroleum worldwide significantly.
A challenge to President Trump
Following reports of Christian genocide in Nigeria and the concern expressed by the U. S. President, Donald Trump, Asari Dokubo warned President Trump against carrying out his threat of military incursion into Nigeria
“If America comes, we will fight them,” Dokubo began in the video.
“Did America not go to Vietnam? Didn’t they run?”, he queried.
“Let Trump come with his America, you will all die”, he added.
In a telephone interview with TruthNigeria, a former Niger – Delta militant who pleaded anonymity said Mujahid Dokubo-Asari helped found the militant movements in Rivers state and perfected the practice of oil theft.
“For many years, Asari Dokubo led a group of cultists to engage in bunkering (as tapping the pipelines is known locally)”, the source said.
“After negotiation with the Nigerian government, Dokubo recruited more men into his group and hired some of them to local security outfits as mercenaries,” the source continued.
“In the southeast, most of the extra – judicial killings and burning of people’s houses were carried out by these mercenaries who were hired to assist Ebubeagu (the agency launched by the southeast governors in 2021 to oversee and monitor the activities of vigilante groups in the region)”, the source added.
Ebere Inyama is a conflict reporter for TruthNigeria
