Niger Delta activist and founder of the defunct Movement for the
Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Chief Government Ekpemupolo
(aka Tompolo) has vowed to make soldiers pay for the death of his
father, Chief Thomas Osen Ekpemupolo one year ago.
Speaking on the first year anniversary of the death of the late
Thomas, Tompolo said descendants of the late patriarch would not
rest until the masterminds of his death are found and held
accountable.
Tompolo, who is on the run over alleged N13billion fraud, though
said that the search for justice would be prosecuted through legal
means.
He said, “As we mourn and remember our late patriarch, we will
seek justice to apprehend and hold accountable the very soldiers
responsible for his murder so that he can finally rest in peace and
we his descendants can be fulfilled.
“I will also not be deterred by persecution and state act of
terror against my person and communities in Ijaw land in the quest
for the emancipation of our land and people,” he vowed.
It would be recalled that father of the former militant leader
died from injuries he sustained when soldiers invaded Gbaramatu
clan in Warri Southwest local government area of Delta State in
September 2016.
The octogenarian, who was allegedly brutalised by rampaging
soldiers, later died in a private hospital in Warri, after his
limbs were amputated in a desperate bid to save his life.
While using the incident as reference, Tompolo who is wanted by
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged
looting of NIMASA fund, lamented his ‘persecution’.
He said “I have been marked as state enemy number one by the
President Muhammadu Buhari regime because of my natural and open
association with my kinsman and former President of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.”
Ekpemupolo also traced his ordeal to his support for Governor
Seriake Dickson in the 2016 Bayelsa State Gubernatorial election
presumed as against the anointed APC candidate of the Federal
Government, Chief Timipre Sylva.
He denied involvement in destructive operation by the militant
group, Niger Delta Avengers, stressing,“In an orchestrated plot the
Nigerian Army was unleashed on Gbaramatu Kingdom in search of me,
and the rampaging soldiers stormed my father’s home in Kurutie
Town, physically brutalised him to the point of death.
“He sustained injuries in one of his legs and due to lack of
medical facilities in the area he could not be treated and could
also not be timely evacuated because of the siege and blockade by
the Nigerian Army.’
Besides, Tompolo accused the Nigerian Navy of looting his
waterfront properties, jetties and other valuable, stressing that
items worth over N10bn were looted by men of the Nigerian armed
forces.
“In the last taken inventory of my facility, there was over 10
billon naira worth of building and other materials in the Jetty,
but information reaching me now has it that the Jetty has been
stripped bare by service personnel of the Joint Task Force
[JTF].
“Some of the materials presumably have been taken to Northern
Nigeria. How could this happen under your watch? As rightly
observed by other well-meaning Nigerians, let me echo their
thoughts by asking ‘where is the much touted anti-corruption
crusade?
“The problem of environmental despoliation and degradation and
issues of political, economic and social injustice and inequalities
arising out of the oil and gas explorations aided by the policies
of the Federal Government of Nigeria still looms larger by the day.
Intimidation and threat is now employed to cow Niger Deltans in the
place of engagement and positive tangibles,” he alleged.
Niger Delta activist and founder of the defunct Movement for the
Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Chief Government Ekpemupolo
(aka Tompolo) has vowed to make soldiers pay for the death of his
father, Chief Thomas Osen Ekpemupolo one year ago.
Speaking on the first year anniversary of the death of the late
Thomas, Tompolo said descendants of the late patriarch would not
rest until the masterminds of his death are found and held
accountable.
Tompolo, who is on the run over alleged N13billion fraud, though
said that the search for justice would be prosecuted through legal
means.
He said, “As we mourn and remember our late patriarch, we will
seek justice to apprehend and hold accountable the very soldiers
responsible for his murder so that he can finally rest in peace and
we his descendants can be fulfilled.
“I will also not be deterred by persecution and state act of
terror against my person and communities in Ijaw land in the quest
for the emancipation of our land and people,” he vowed.
It would be recalled that father of the former militant leader
died from injuries he sustained when soldiers invaded Gbaramatu
clan in Warri Southwest local government area of Delta State in
September 2016.
The octogenarian, who was allegedly brutalised by rampaging
soldiers, later died in a private hospital in Warri, after his
limbs were amputated in a desperate bid to save his life.
While using the incident as reference, Tompolo who is wanted by
the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged
looting of NIMASA fund, lamented his ‘persecution’.
He said “I have been marked as state enemy number one by the
President Muhammadu Buhari regime because of my natural and open
association with my kinsman and former President of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.”
Ekpemupolo also traced his ordeal to his support for Governor
Seriake Dickson in the 2016 Bayelsa State Gubernatorial election
presumed as against the anointed APC candidate of the Federal
Government, Chief Timipre Sylva.
He denied involvement in destructive operation by the militant
group, Niger Delta Avengers, stressing,“In an orchestrated plot the
Nigerian Army was unleashed on Gbaramatu Kingdom in search of me,
and the rampaging soldiers stormed my father’s home in Kurutie
Town, physically brutalised him to the point of death.
“He sustained injuries in one of his legs and due to lack of
medical facilities in the area he could not be treated and could
also not be timely evacuated because of the siege and blockade by
the Nigerian Army.’
Besides, Tompolo accused the Nigerian Navy of looting his
waterfront properties, jetties and other valuable, stressing that
items worth over N10bn were looted by men of the Nigerian armed
forces.
“In the last taken inventory of my facility, there was over 10
billon naira worth of building and other materials in the Jetty,
but information reaching me now has it that the Jetty has been
stripped bare by service personnel of the Joint Task Force
[JTF].
“Some of the materials presumably have been taken to Northern
Nigeria. How could this happen under your watch? As rightly
observed by other well-meaning Nigerians, let me echo their
thoughts by asking ‘where is the much touted anti-corruption
crusade?
“The problem of environmental despoliation and degradation and
issues of political, economic and social injustice and inequalities
arising out of the oil and gas explorations aided by the policies
of the Federal Government of Nigeria still looms larger by the day.
Intimidation and threat is now employed to cow Niger Deltans in the
place of engagement and positive tangibles,” he alleged.
Read more https://nairalaw.com/tompolo-speaks-from-hiding-says-jtf-will-pay-for-my-fathers-death/