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
No comments:
Post a Comment