The leader of the defunct Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Chief Government Ekpemupolo, otherwise known as Tompolo, has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to withdraw the military siege on Gbaramatu kingdom.
Gbaramatu kingdom, with headquarters at Oporoza, in Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State, had been under intense military siege since the resumption of militancy by the acclaimed faceless Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), which had added to the economic debacle of an already bleeding nation.
The military siege was further reinforced last Saturday, after multiple attacks on Chevron’s oil facilities which are mostly located in Gbaramatu kingdom.
Tompolo, in a statement he personally signed and made available to journalists in Warri, Monday evening, expressed disappointment at the way the Federal Government and the military were going about the war against the economic saboteurs.
He wondered why in spite of several claims of innocence, he was still being hunted and labelled as a member of the new militant group attacking oil facilities in the creeks.
The embattled former Ijaw militant, who is battling a fraud case with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the courts, therefore, described himself, in the face of a reversal of fortune, as a victim of circumstance.
Debunking this claim for the umpteenth time, Tompolo said: “I am greatly touched and disappointed with the manner the Nigerian government and the military is being arm-twisted by the unfounded claims of Emami and others, that I am behind the Niger Delta Avengers group, when there is no single proof to back the claim.
He challenged anyone in doubt to find out from the Group Managing Director (GMD) and Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu about the fact that Emami and others have been on the neck of the minister for pipeline surveillance contracts for some time now.
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