Government Ekpemepulo, alias Tompolo, a former Niger Delta militant, who is currently in hiding, has written another open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari.
In his new letter, the ex-militant leader asked the president to learn from former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who in 2009 introduced the amnesty programme for Niger Delta militants after discovering that attacking the militants was not a good idea.
The letter in part reads: “Today is exactly 31 days after the invasion of the traditional headquarters of Gbaramatu Kingdom, Oporoza town, by your military led by Brig. General Faruk Yahaya of the 4th Brigade, Benin City, in search of me, with the allegation that I am the one behind the bombing and destruction of crude oil facilities in the Niger Delta region, and the incident happened in my absence, but I was informed that the army was on the loose, and committed so much abomination in the community.
“As I said in my previous publications, the military made away with the symbol of authority of the Gbaramatu people from the Egbesu Shrine [of] which I am the chief priest. They also made away with other valuables, worth several millions of naira, from the community. We are presently being treated like conquered people because of crude oil.
“Mr. President Sir, please permit me to quickly recall a similar incident that occurred in May, 2009, when this same military invaded several communities in Gbaramatu Kingdom, under the command of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. Traditional worship centres were desecrated, property was looted and above all, the multi-billion naira ultra-modern magnificent palace of the Pere of Gbaramatu Kingdom was burned down, and his golden crown was stolen by the military. As peace-loving people, the kingdom approached the courts and demanded compensation for the unlawful invasion and destruction of property, in which the court awarded N99 billion in favour of Gbaramatu Kingdom. After seven years of that sad incident, the Federal Government is yet to pay the compensation.
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“This incident also led to the declaration of the presidential amnesty programme for peace to reign, as the government found out that military action is not the best way to address the Niger Delta question, and the rest became a history in the life of those who led that invasion. I believe Mr. President should learn a lesson from the 2009 military invasion and do the needful.”
Tompolo is being arraigned in connection with a multi-billion naira fraud involving a land deal with the Federal Government.
The Federal High Court in Lagos had ordered Tompolo to appear before it to face a 40-count charge of alleged N13 billion fraud levelled against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Justice Buba also granted leave to the EFCC to serve Tompolo the summons and charge number FHC/L/553/2015 through substituted means, by “affixing same on the conspicuous part of his known address situated at 1 Chief Agbanu DDPA Extension Warri, Dalton State”.
The judge issued the summons following an application filed by the EFCC through its lawyer, Rotimi Oyedipo, alleging that they had not been able to serve him with a copy of the charge.
Tompolo was also accused alongside the former director-general of the NIMASA, Patrick Akpobolokemi, of diverting N34 billion which accrued from the public private partnership agreement between Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and Global West Vessel Specialist Limited for personal use.
In the letter personally signed by him, Tompolo denied involvement in the alleged N34 billion fraud.
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