Downstream Sector Plagued By ‘Sabotage, Cartels Stronger Than Drug Gangs’ — Dangote

Founder and President/Chief Executive of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has raised concerns over alleged sabotage in Nigeria’s downstream oil sector.

Dangote, who spoke to journalists at a briefing on Sunday, recounted multiple ‘sabotage’ incidents at both his facility and public refineries.

The billionaire businessman lamented that organised cartels pose a “bigger threat than drug mafias.”

He cited examples at his refinery in Lekki, including the removal of spare parts from a 400-ton boiler, which he described as the largest ever built.

“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.

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Dangote also highlighted the destruction of pipeline infrastructure across the country.

He alleged that depots from Kano to other states had been deliberately sabotaged, not damaged by natural causes.

“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.

The billionaire quantified losses at his refinery 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 described the extreme security measures at the refinery, explaining that over 2,000 security personnel were employed, more than the number of operational workers.

“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.

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The group CEO warned that the scale of sabotage and organised theft in the oil sector represents a serious threat to production and national economic security.

“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, disclosed that the refinery had experienced 22 attempted physical sabotage incidents since commencing operations.

The company linked some of these incidents to a mass reorganisation and dismissal of about 800 workers, which had triggered a temporary strike by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).

Many critics faulted the rejig and alleged involvement in sabotage, suggesting the refinery workers were targeted for union activities.