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Tag: Tompolo

  • Polls: Tompolo, Dokubo, others threaten war if Jonathan loses

    Polls: Tompolo, Dokubo, others threaten war if Jonathan loses

    Niger Delta militants have issued a fresh threat to go to war except President Goodluck Jonathan wins the February 14 presidential election.

    The former warlords at a meeting at Government House,Yenagoa last Friday insisted that it is Jonathan on February 14 or war.

    The said defeat for him at the polls would amount to dethronement, which they described as unacceptable.

    They vowed to unleash violence on the country and take back Niger Delta oil should the outcome be unfavourable.

    At the meeting were Mujahid Asari Dokubo, leader, Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force; Victor Ben Ebikabowei, aka, Boy Loaf and Government Ekpudomenowei, aka Tompolo.

    Also in attendance were the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs and chairman of Amnesty Implementation Committee, Kingsley Kuku; host governor, Seriake Dickson and  President General, Ijaw Youth Council, Udengs Eradiri, among others.

    Dokubo, at the meeting, called for an end to what he termed intimidation of the Ijaw by other Nigerians.

    “For every Goliath, God created a David. For every Pharaoh, there is a Moses. We are going to war. Everyone of you should go and fortify yourself,” Premium Times quoted him as saying.

    He advised those at the meeting to be ready for the battle ahead and declared that President Jonathan would win reelection.

    Also speaking, Boyloaf said  that if the North succeeded  in regaining power in the election the people of the Niger Delta region would take their oil back.

    “Keep grudges and sentiments apart. We are ready to match them bumper to bumper,” Boyloaf said.

    In his remark, Dickson thanked the former militant leaders for their resolve to back the re-election of President Jonathan with greater vigour and assured them that he would relate their position to the President.

    He urged them to resist the temptation of being recruited by the opposition to destabilise the state.

  • How ex-militant leader, Tompolo, emerged leader of PDP in Delta

    How ex-militant leader, Tompolo, emerged leader of PDP in Delta

    South-South Regional Editor, Shola O’neil, deconstruct the intrigues, underground maneuvers, threats and drama that characterised the December  primaries of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta State and how Chief Government Ekpemupolo (AKA Tompolo) emerged the de facto leader of the party in the state

    THERE is no longer any doubt in the minds of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) faithful that Chief Government Ekpemupolo, a former warlord and leader of the Niger Delta Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), is the leader of the ruling party in the state.

    With a strong role in the emergence of the party’s governorship candidate, Dr  Ifeanyi Okowa, a serving senator, and after single-handedly picking his cousin and comrade in the Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities (FNDIC), Chief Kingsley Otuaro, as Okowa’s running mate, the man popularly known as Tompolo or GOC (to close allies) has burnished his reputation as the political leader of the party, despite attempts by the party and the man himself to deny it.

    Tompolo was instrumental to the success of at least two of the three senatorial flag bearers in the state. He also had a hand in the emergence of at least three of the four House of Representative candidates in the Delta South Senatorial Districts, including his nephew, Mr. Julius Pondi, who emerged as the flag-bearer in Burutu Federal Constituency by dislodging the incumbent, Rt. Hon Franc Enekorogha, a former Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly.

    Ekpemupolo played a role in the emergence of Senator Manager as the party’s candidate for the Delta South Senatorial District. That feat, which was a precursor to the governorship primaries and things to come in the Delta PDP, was not a mean one, considering that the opponent was the sitting governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, an Itsekiri, whose kinsmen considered it their turn to produce the next senator for the district. Uduaghan, who by the party’s structure is the leader of the party in the state, was expected to easily pick the PDP ticket, yet he dramatically bowed out of the race barely 72 hours to the contest. Uduaghan said his decision was to avert a possible bloodbath in the state.

    Mr. Sunny Ogefere, media aide to the governor, said his boss “withdrew from the race because of the tension it was already generating. He had to do it to preserve the existing peace in the state and to ensure that the inter-ethnic unity in the state, especially the district, is not jeopardised.”

    Although neither Uduaghan nor Ogefere explained what they meant by the threat to “existing peace” , there were hints that Manager’s Ijaw kinsmen in the Warri area planned to unleash mayhem if Manager did not get the party’s ticket. A group, Concerned PDP Members, Kurutie Town, (Tompolo’s hometown) in Gbaramatu Ward, had earlier warned that “the Ijaws will not stop at anything to deliver James Manager to the Nigerian Senate in 2015 general elections.”

    Events that later unfolded showed that the threat was potent. It was learnt that at least two weeks before the primaries, a ‘political coup’ took place in the state. Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan was stripped of his power as the Chief Security Officer of the state, with the Presidency ensuring that Tompolo had more control of the state’s security apparatus than the governor. It was learnt that the head of security agencies were explicitly ordered to defer to the former warlord if a conflict arose between him and Uduaghan.

    Tompolo denied the allegation. Speaking through his media aide, Comrade Paul Bebenimibo, Tompolo described the report as “ridiculous and a laughable.”

    “The Presidency couldn’t have handed down security apparatus to High Chief Government Ekpemupolo for PDP primaries because he is not a political office holder and at the same time not in the party hierarchy. Rather the Presidency handed the security apparatus to the governor of the state and off course the Chief Security Officer and also the leader of the Party in the state. Tompolo has not and is not in control of security in Nigeria.”

    In the same vein, Bebenimibo laughed off the claim that the governor jettisoned his senatorial ambition over threat by the former warlord. “Tompolo cannot threaten the governor of Delta State to drop his senatorial ambition because he wasn’t in the contest with him. He never had any disagreement with the governor on the senatorial contest. It was out of the governor’s volition to participate in the election and at the same time it was his own decision to drop the ambition.

    “After all, he (Uduaghan) is not the first person to withdraw from election contest; even my humble self dropped my House of Assembly ambition for others. I didn’t attribute it to any threat from anyone. It doesn’t make sense for anyone to allege that Tompolo threatened a serving governor to drop his ambition.”

    Despite the denial, aggrieved officials of the state government who leaked the details of the ‘coup’ to the press,  told our reporter that some Ijaw leaders and kinsmen of the President had convinced him (Jonathan) that his political interest would be best served with the security apparatus of the state in the hands of his kinsmen. A source said the deal was concluded when it emerged that President Jonathan would not be involved in a primary for the Presidential ticket of the party.

    A very reliable top security source told our reporter: “The governor could not even guarantee his own security at the PDP primary. His entire security details could have easily been withdrawn from him if there was a conflict or crisis. He would have been left defenseless if he had tried to wield his power as governor or use his executive power.”

    Amidst the hazy security state, there were also veritable reports that some aspirants flooded the state with hundreds of cultists and youths who were heavily armed and primed to unleash mayhem in Asaba if the primary did not go their way.

     Hack on Uduaghan’s men

    But if the governor and his associates had thought that the conclusion of the primaries would ensure sanity to the party in the state, events preceding the exercises have proven otherwise. It was gathered that the reclusive former militant leader with the active support of Dr Okowa, turned his attention to the winners of the House of Assembly contest, which was conducted when the structure of the party was still in the governor’s hand.

    Key supporters of the embattled governor who won and were cleared to contest in the main election were systematically substituted either with those who did not contest or those who had abysmal scores. For instance, in Patani State Constituency, Rt. Hon Basil Ganagana, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly and Uduaghan’s supporter, lost his ticket to Mr. Tonye Timi, who polled a dismal 18 votes against Ganagana’s 31. Ganagana’s opponents said his search for a historical 5th term is morally wrong, even though he won the primary.

    In Uvwie, Hon. Efe Ofobruku, who won the primary, was replaced with Mathew Ishekiri, much to the angst of the PDP faithful in the area. Ofobruku’s sin was that he was Uduaghan’s candidate. It was his second shot at the house. Mr. Godwin Abigor, a former member of the governor’s cabinet, who defeated the incumbent Hon. Omawumi Udoh, also lost his ticket. Udoh is on her 16th year in the House, even though she missed most of the sittings of the current term. Abigor’s ticket has since been handed to Udoh.

    Also by Thursday, Comrade Izezi, who won the Ughelli South Constituency contest, was in battle to avoid a plot to substitute his name. His was an aide to Uduaghan for several years and is strong supporter of the governor. The fate of Hon. Ossai Ossai in Delta North is similarly hazy, whose candidature was withdrawn by the PDP.

    A source in the party said the saving grace for Hon Daniel Mayuku, the member representing Warri South West, was that he was the sole aspirant on the platform of the party for the primary. “He would have been the first target, because of his closeness to the governor and also being an Itsekiri man in Tompolo’s home LGA,” our source added.

    Bebenimibo, who was to run against Mayuku said Tompolo had no hand in the substitution. He said, “he cannot substitute names of candidates because he is not an official of the party. I wonder which way he can do that and why anyone that could not get the party ticket accuses Tompolo when he is not in any leadership level in the party.”

    How Tompolo stooped to conquer

    Our investigation revealed that Tompolo’s present battle stance contrasts starkly with his nature before the October 4 local government election, when he reportedly went cap in hand to the Protea Hotel, Ekpan to beg Uduaghan and other party leaders to let him produce the council chairman of Warri South West.

    “At a meeting held at Protea Hotel before the election, he (Tompolo) begged some Itsekiri leaders, including Michael Diden (Ejele), Mayuku, to allow his brother (George) return as PDP flag-bearer when it was evident that he had lost out.”

    At the time of the deal, Mr. Bobby Oritseweyinmi Omadeli, an Itsekiri, had picked the PDP ticket and was heading to the chairman of the council. The deal angered Chief Ayirimi Emami, whose name was replaced with George Ekpemupolo – Tompolo’s younger brother. The younger Ekpemupolo won the election intriguingly, even though there is allegation that he did not even buy the ticket for the primary.

     Warri peace deal in the balance

    The divisive deal was faulted by prominent Itsekiri leaders and legal practitioners. They slammed PDP’s “lack of internal democracy” and blatant robbery of Omadeli’s mandate. It was learnt that the volte face contravened an agreement reached for the rotation of the position between the two ethnic groups as a part of the deal that ended the Ijaw/Itsekiri crisis in 2004. Having served three-year tenure, Ekpemupolo, an Ijaw, was expected to step aside for an Itsekiri.

    That would not be the last time an agreement would be broken.  In the Delta South Senatorial race, James Manager, who picked the ticket for a record fourth tenure, was not ‘qualified’ based on the rotational agreement between the Ijaw, Isoko and Itsekiri ethnic groups in the south. Senator Stella Omu (an Isoko), served from 1999  2003 and bowed out for James Manager. The latter’s third return was due to a deal struck with the Itsekiri, who had Uduaghan (an Itsekiri man from Abigborodo, Warri North) as governor.

    “In line with the agreement, the Itsekiri cannot have a senator and governor at the same time. As a result, Manager was allowed to go back to the Senate, pending the expiration of Uduaghan’s tenure.

    But now the Ijaws not only have a senator, they also have the deputy governor while the Isoko and Itsekiri are left with nothing,” an aggrieved PDP stalwart in the area said.

  • 2015: Tompolo meets with Olu of Warri, 11 Urhobo monarchs

    2015: Tompolo meets with Olu of Warri, 11 Urhobo monarchs

    Former Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) leader Chief Government Ekpemupolo (alias Tompolo) yesterday went on a peace mission to aggrieved ethnic groups in Delta State.

    The move is said to be part of the plan to shore up the thinning support for President Goodluck Jonathan and other Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidates in Delta State.

    The meeting, it was learnt, followed the announcement of Tompolo’s anointed candidate and cousin, Chief Kingsley Otuaro, as the running mate to Delta State PDP candidate Dr Ifeanyi Okowa.

    Our correspondent learnt that Tompolo met with the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse II and 11 Urhobo monarchs in Delta Central Senatorial District.

    A source at the palace of the Olu of Warri, who spoke in confidence, said: “It is true. Tompolo came here today (Tuesday) and he indeed met with the Olu and notable members of the Warri Traditional Council. The meeting lasted about five hours.”

    Tompolo had met with several notable Urhobo monarchs at the palace of the Ovie of Idjere Kingdom in Jesse, Ethiope West Local Government Area.

    A prominent political leader in the area, who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said those at the meeting included: the Ovie of Uvwie, HRM Abe I; the Ovie of Mosogar, HRM Samson Okirhiobo; his counterparts from Oghara, HRM Noble Oyibo Eshemitan, Uku–Ogharaname, Orefe III and the host monarch, the Ovie of Idjerhe Kingdom, Erhiekevwe 1.

    The source said: “The traditional rulers of Abraka clans and the Ovie of Agbarho-Otor were also present at the meeting. The kernel of discussion was the need to support President Jonathan’s re-election and the success of the PDP candidate in Delta, Dr Okowa.”

    Delta PDP has been hit by a series of crisis.

    Specifically, the Itsekiri are unhappy with the President over the abortion of the November groundbreaking ceremony of the $16 billion Delta Gas City Project at Ogidigben, Warri South West Local Government Area.

    Ironically, the abortion of the ceremony was blamed on Tompolo’s alleged threat and demand of his Gbaramatu kinsmen on the project’s name, among others.

    A source at the Olu’s palace (Aghofen) in Warri said the former warlord explained his alleged role in the EPZ crisis and appealed to the monarch to support President Jonathan and other PDP candidates.

    “He told the monarch that he (Tompolo) was his (Olu’s) son. He begged him not to rely on hearsay on issues concerning him. He begged the Olu to try to hear his side of any story on issues concerning Ijaw/Itsekiri relationship,” the source added.

     

  • Ex-militant Tompolo breaks silence over alleged ownership of warships

    Ex-militant Tompolo breaks silence over alleged ownership of warships

    Ex-militant, Government Ekpemukpolo a.k.a Tompolo, has raised the alarm over attempts by politicians to tarnish his image ahead 2015 general elections.

    Tompolo yesterday reacted to media reports on alleged acquisition of gun boats.

    He said the boats were acquired from the Norwegian government with the assistance of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) for policing the nation’s waterways.

    Spokesman to Tompolo, Paul Bebenimibo, alleged that the media onslaught is the handiwork of some Niger-Deltan ethnic chauvinists whose desire to enslave others have now backfired.

    His words: “I am not surprised that this blackmail is coming at this crucial time that Nigeria is facing serious security challenges, even as the most decisive moment for the nation, which is the 2015 elections gets closer”.

    Continuing: “For one ,the initial reaction was to ignore this cheap blackmail and forge ahead with personal commitment, but the propensity with which these lies are daily peddled requires that a bit of clarification is given to the Nigerian public. Clearly, the intent of those behind the malicious media report is to weigh me down, paint me as someone with a desire to wage war against the Nigerian state by painting a picture of an arms build-up in the Niger-Delta as 2015 approaches.”

    He said the boats have been in the possession of the NIMASA in the last two years, adding that the boats in question were neither warships nor gunboats.

    He challenged the media to contact the Norwegian Embassy for more details on the boats.

  • Storm over Tompolo’s gunboat

    •Granting Government Ekpemupolo’s private company licence to import gunboats is subversive of our laws and dangerous to our existence

    The Jonathan presidency appears fixated on turning Government Ekpemupolo, aka Tompolo, into a sinister scarecrow. This is dangerous, and we condemn it.

    The latest in the flagrant abuse of power, bordering on nepotism, is the allowance granted Tompolo’s private company, Global West Vessel Services, to unlawfully import warships into the country. We know that such right is the exclusive prerogative of the Nigerian Armed Forces, and not even that of the Nigerian Maritime Services Agency, which has been trying to provide a cover for the importation of the war ships.

    No doubt, Tompolo, an ex-militant and an Ijaw just like the President, has enjoyed tremendous patronage under this government. But the extension of this privilege to the exclusive responsibility of the Nigeria Armed Forces is a call to anarchy, and Nigerians should rise against it.

    This development becomes even more sinister, when it is viewed in the context of the volatile nature of the region; as the Ijaws, the Urhobos and the Itsekiris square up against one another in battle, over the ownership of the water ways and the land, in that area.

    So, is it possible that, as already alleged by Ijaw rival ethnic groups, that Tompolo’s war vessels may be pressed into service by his own ethnic group, if a dispute arises?

    As has been eloquently argued by Professor Itse Sagay, a constitutional lawyer, there is no provision in Nigerian Law that allows the bearing of arms by private individuals and corporate entities, to provide security services in Nigerian waters. That is the exclusive prerogative of the Nigerian Navy, as an arm of the Armed Forces of the country.

    Section 3 of the Armed Forces Act, Cap A 20 of the 2004 Laws of Nigeria, provides: “The Armed Forces shall be charged with the defence of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by land, sea and air and such other duties as the National Assembly may from time to time, prescribe or direct by an act”.

    Section 4 of the Act further provides: “Notwithstanding the generality of the provisions of subsection (3) of this section, (a) The Navy shall, in particular, be further charged with (i) enforcing and assisting in coordiating the enforcement of all customs, laws, including anti-bunkering, fishery and immigration laws of Nigeria at sea; (ii) enforcing and assisting in coordinating the enforcement of national and international maritime laws ascribed or acceded to by Nigeria; (iii) making of charts and coordinating of all national hydrographic surveys; and (iv) promoting, cordinating and enforcing safety regulations in the territorial waters and the Exclusive Economic Zone of Nigeria”.

    We decided to provide an elaborate quotation of the relevant Armed Forces Act, to show without equivocation that the Jonathan Presidency is on a frolic, when he unlawfully extends the exclusive rights of a major national institution, to a private company.

    Such a conduct becomes a double jeopardy when it boders on the security and general well being of constituent parts of the country. As provided in the act, it requires an act of parliament to extend or derogate the powers granted the Armed Forces under the act. So it behoves on the National Assembly to rein in the executive, in this instance.

    On our part, we urge President Jonathan to watch the uses to which he puts his kinsman, if he wishes to be regarded as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, instead of as a sectional leader. If he does not, then he should be ready to accept the appendage of a sectional president.

    So we urge the President to immediately do away with this scarecrow; and to restore his legitimacy as the Commander-in-Chief.

  • Navy denies Tompolo owns gunboats

    Navy denies Tompolo owns gunboats

    The Nigerian Navy (NN) cleared yesterday the air on the alleged acquisition of decommissioned Norwegian warships by ex-militant, Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo), insisting that the vessels belong to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

    These was outrage over a report by a Norwegian media that Tompolo purchased seven of its decommissioned gunboats, with some Nigerians linking the purchase to preparation for war during next year’s general elections and the running of a parallel naval force.

    But Navy’s Chief of Training and Operations, Rear Admiral Austin Oyagha, briefing reporters in Abuja, described the report as untrue.

    He stated that the boats, owned by NIMASA, were being manned by the NN personnel as part of efforts to ensure safety at the nation’s maritime domain.

    Rear Admiral Oyagha said pursuant to a pact between both agencies, NIMASA enlisted the navy in order to enforce its responsibility of ensuring safety because the former neither has such powers nor expertise.

    He also dismissed claims that the gunboats had Tompolo’s name inscribed on them, stressing that no such boat was operating in Nigeria’s territorial waters.

     “I want to state categorically that no individual has acquired gunboats into this country. The gunboats being alluded to belong to NIMASA and these boats are currently being manned by personnel of the Nigerian Navy.

    “And as you are all aware, Nigerian Navy has collaboration with NIMASA of which we have a maritime component attached to the organisation in support of the statutory responsibility to ensure the safety of our harbor approaches to our anchorage,”

    One of such boats christened Barak Defender with International Maritime Organisation (IMO) number 9702326 and painted in the same colour as NN vessels, was seen in Lagos waters on Monday with naval personnel onboard.

    Information obtained online indicated that the gunboat is a high speed craft registered in Saint Vincent and the Granadines. It has a length of 33m by 7m and had a port call at Cape Town before it proceeded to Nigeria.

  • Gunboats belong to NIMASA, not Tompolo – Navy

    Gunboats belong to NIMASA, not Tompolo – Navy

    The Nigerian Navy said the gunboats that alleged belonged to ex-Niger Delta militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, actually belonged to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that media reports said recently that Ekpemupolo, also known as Tompolo, had acquired some warships and gunboats for maritime activities.

    The Chief of Training and Operations of the Nigerian Navy, Rear Admiral Austin Oyagha, made the clarification while briefing newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday.

    “No individual has acquired gunboats in this country, the gunboats in question actually belong to NIMASA and these boats are currently being manned by personnel of the Nigerian Navy.

    “And as you are all aware, the navy has collaboration with NIMASA which dates back to more than three years and it is ongoing.

    “We have a maritime component attached to the organisation in support to their statutory responsibilities in ensuring the safety of our habours and approaches to our anchorages,” he said.

    Oyagha said that the collaboration was such that they could acquire boats and not weapons.

    He said that when NIMASA acquired the boats, they presented them to the navy to arm the boat, adding that the weapons on board those boats belonged to the navy.

    “NIMASA has a role of safety of the ports, habours and approaches which is outside the purview of the navy which is essentially a policing role.

    “For them to carry out that role, they need to carry boats that are equipped, since they cannot carry arms, they have to collaborate with organisations like the navy which has statutory responsibility to carry arms.

    “I don’t want to believe that there is any gunboat or any vessel with the name Tompolo written on it that is operating in our waters, if there is such a boat, I will like you to prove it,” He stressed.

  • Government and his army

    Government and his army

    Bad blood. Lives lost. Properties destroyed. Neigbours becoming suspicious of one another. Trust taking a long vacation. And like Femi Kuti noted in one of his songs: “Truth don die.” This, in a nutshell, is the tale of the $16b Export Processing Zone (EPZ) project in Warri southwest, Delta State, which has remained stagnant all this while.

    But despite all these, nothing prepared me for the event of Sunday, November 16. My phone buzzed. The first instinct when the inspiring ringtone “There is power in the name of Jesus” blared out was for me to meditate and allow the phone ring for some time before answering it.

    The man at the other end is Shola O’Neil, our Southsouth Regional Editor, who I consider one of the shining stars of Nigerian journalism’s new generation.

    I was nearing the newsroom’s door when his call came in. I had taken permission to close early because I needed rest. Unlike my restless self, I had sat the bulk of the four hours or so that I spent at work that day.

    “Hello Shola,” I said.

    “Hello editor,” he answered me. The humble man in Shola always likes to address me as editor.

    “I don’t even know how to start,” he said and paused, “we are in a kind of situation.”

    The reception was not very good. So, at some point, I was not hearing Shola very well.

    He told me a group of 14 reporters, including two from The Nation— Shola and Bolaji Ogundele— were in the custody of men of Tompolo, the man whose full name is Government Ekpumopolo.

    The phone cut at a point. I went into my car and re-dialled Shola’s number. He explained to me that they were arrested on their way back from a news conference addressed by Itsekiri over the controversial EPZ that President Goodluck Jonathan was not allowed to carry out its ground-breaking last weekend.

    The EPZ has been a subject of controversy between the Ijaw and Itsekiri since the idea was mooted. Last week, this paper had used the picture of Ijaw youths declaring war against the Itsekiri to lead its Southsouth edition. With this in mind, I wondered why it became a sin for reporters to cover the Itsekiri side of the debacle. Shola was in Oporoza, the home town of Tompolo to cover this news conference and rally over the $16bn EPZ project. Shola has been on top of the fuzz over the project and he was excited when he got a call that the Itsekiri were also protesting at Ogidigben. So, there he went to get their side of the EPZ brouhaha.

    On their way back to Warri from the Itsekiri event, Tompolo’s boys hijacked the boat conveying them and took them to their camp in Oporoza.  They seized all documents on them and the pictures of the Itsekiri protest.

    What Shola told me next shocked me: “They came with a rifle, which they claimed to have found on our boat.” The gun, Shola said, was only ‘discovered’ two clear hours after they were seized by gun-wielding men and held at their camp. The mention of camp got me thinking. Do they still have camps? I thought all such camps were disbanded when the militants accepted the presidential amnesty programme. I began to query the sincerity of the leadership of the militants to the whole amnesty programme.

    The excuse that a gun was found on the boat carrying the reporters, which also had some civilians on it, gave the militants the temerity to manhandle them. Shola, Bolaji, Shola Adebayo, Regional Editor of Leadership, who has covered Delta State for many major newspapers in the country, and others were there for no less than six hours before they were handed over to the Navy.

    Other seized reporters are: Regional Editor of Vanguard, Emma Amaize, Warri correspondent of National Daily, Emma Arubi, Awoso Harry of Delta Broadcasting Service (DBS) Warri; Olu Philips and Paulinus Odedeyi of Channels Television; Osarose Sadoh and Alex Omoniyi, of Africa Independent Television (AIT); Anthony Ebule, Celestine Ukah, Josephine Ughweri and Victoria Nwaeze, all of Fresh Angle, a Warri-based tabloid.

    The excuse for handing them over to the Navy was that a gun was found on their boat. That makes them criminals. Warped logic.

    The news hounds were thus guilty of taking sides with the Itsekiri to attack them. Their explanation of covering the Itsekiri event for fair hearing made no sense to the obviously high militants, who detained them from 1pm till about 7pm.

    Shola could only call after they had been handed over to the Navy. The militants, he told me, said Itsekiri journalists were colluding with their people. Shola is Itsekiri. Bolaji is not and the bulk of the 14 seized reporters are not Itsekiri. So, how did they arrive at this conclusion?

    The reporters spent the night at the NN base in Escalon and were brought to Warri on Monday morning. When I spoke with Shola on their way to Warri, I assumed they were being taken home by the Navy. How wrong I was! They were actually taken to another naval base in Warri for detention. They spent several hours and only regained their full freedom in the evening. They left the naval base traumatised and sorry for our dear country.

    Daily Independent’s Arubi was tortured alongside the other six non-journalists seized on the boat. Their sin: being Itsekiri. They accused Arubi of writing ‘nonsense’ against their leader (Tompolo). He was forced to hold a rifle and his picture was taken and reportedly published on the social media.

    What kind of a nation is this? The militants who handed over the reporters to the naval men for alleged gun-running were also bearing arms, which I doubt they have licence for. The navy could not query them on this; yet, it willingly detained men who have, over the years, contributed through their pen to the nation.

    Aside contributing to the nation, these men have also contributed to the lives of men such as Tompolo, who became overnight billionaires. In saner societies, Tompolo and his like are unlikely to be treated as heroes. It is very unlikely they will have the sort of access they have to the corridors of power, not to talk of enjoying million-dollar contracts from government agencies.

    Since we started Niger Delta Report last year, Shola has repeatedly promoted the activities of a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) floated by Tompolo to burnish his image. He would always plead with me to accommodate the stories on the foundation. That was why I was shocked that Shola could have problem with Tompolo’s boys.

    Perhaps Shola and others fell victim to the dictum that “all is fair in a war” because that is what the EPZ matter has become.  Brothers do not trust brothers again. Or how does one explain the situation in Ugborodo, one of the communities hosting the EPZ? Camps have emerged in Ugborodo and destruction has been the name of the game. And now the Ijaw have joined the fray demanding that the name of the project must reflect joint ownership by Ijaw and Itsekiri. The Itsekiri say the project is on their land and so should have no Ijaw colouration.

    What is in a name, you may ask? Will the project be more beneficial to the people on the account of the name it is given? Will its name mean a better tomorrow for the people?

    My final take: This avoidable fight over name and sundry issue has dragged on unnecessarily. I suggest that a neutral name should be found to ease the tension. I believe Jonathan can call Tompolo to order and remedy the situation. Detaining and torturing reporters for writing ‘nonsense’ against Tompolo gives me the impression he runs a government of his own. At the risk of being marked for writing ‘nonsense’, I dare say that the fact that he bears ‘Government’ and is close to the powers-that-be should not get into his head. He has been lucky thus far and should not take it for granted.

  • Delta local govt elections threaten Warri’s peace

    Delta local govt elections threaten Warri’s peace

    Many keen observers of the relationship between the Ijaw and Itsekiri, two age-long neighbours in the Warri, Delta State, are hoping that the newfound peace between them will last forever. Since both sides accepted the peace deal brokered by former Governor James Ibori in 2004, none has slept with two eyes closed. Suspicion and distrust greets every step one or the other takes. The mutual distrust is honed by equally shared suspicion that both sides still own sizeable armoury, in spite of the Federal Government’s amnesty and other deals brokered over the past years.

    The overdue local government election in the state slated for tomorrow will again test this fractious relationship. The stakes couldn’t be higher because of the debate and controversy over  fielding of candidates for the highest position in the three councils.

    The Ijaw and Itsekiri have much more in common than their differences. Sadly, their transformation has been far from peaceful, never minding that they intermarry, live among themselves, eat and dress the same way and do most things in common.

    The sharing of political offices and largesse from oil resources, which both sides have in abundance, have often seen them going for each other’s jugular in the past. Only recently, acrimony over the ownership of the land for the proposed Export Processing Zone (EPZ) threatened to open another war front in the area.

    For nearly a decade they fought over the location of the headquarters of the Warri South West Local Government Area. Thousands of persons were killed; hundreds of community razed and plundered while countless families were rendered homeless. The fight was sparked off when the late dictator, Gen Sani Abacha relocated the headquarters of the council from Ogbe-Ijoh (an Ijaw town) to Ogidigben (an Itsekiri town).

    Ten years after the end of the Warri Crisis in 2004, tempers are again rising between the two neighbours. At the centre of the latest imbroglio is the sharing of the political offices in Warri South, Warri South West and Warri North Local Government Area of the state.

    Three Itsekiri candidates are flying the flags of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in Saturday’s election, much to the chagrin of their Ijaw counterparts, who feel that the elective position in the area should be rotated between them and their Itsekiri counterparts.

    Our investigation revealed that the zoning arraignment is applicable in Warri South West LGA, where the last elected chairman of the council was Chief George Ekpemupolo, the younger brother of Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo). In view of the agreement, an Itsekiri is expected to occupy the seat after him. Mr Weyinmi Omadeli Bobby, an Itsekiri is the PDP candidate.

    Nevertheless, the zoning agreement is either not applicable or abandoned in the other two Warris – North and South – depending on which side of the argument you hear. The Ijaws of Egbema are seething over the arrangement, which they alleged have constantly favoured their Itsekiri counterparts. If they expect a change, they might not get it this time. The candidates of the PDP and All Progressive Congress (APC) are Itsekiris.

    It was against this backdrop that a pressure group from Gbaramatu Kingdom, which was the hotbed of the 1997 – 2004 crisis, Warri Ijaw Peace Monitoring Group, in a statement on Sunday, barely stopped short of declaring a war ahead of the election.

    The group’s Coordinator, Chief Patrick Bigha, who signed a pithy statement, warned: “There will be trouble if they (Itsekiri) refuse the Ijaws to feature a candidate, especially in the Warri North and Warri South West state constituencies. As it stands now, all the three Warri local government area Peoples Democratic Party flag bearers in the October 25 election are Itsekiris.”

    Earlier, another Ijaw group, Concerned PDP Members in Kurutie Town, Gbaramatu Ward of Warri South West LGA, had also written to the National Chairman of the PDP, urging a political arraignment of ‘give-and-take’ to nip the ugly situation in the bud. The Kurutie petitioners urged Muazu to use his “good offices to bring peace to Delta State” and to use wisdom to steer the “PDP ship to safe harbor.”

    Nevertheless, at the time Bigha sent out his release, the ship for tomorrow’s election had already sailed and the Itsekiri were on it with the three flags of the PDP. It was also unlikely that the Ijaws in the three councils had projected any strong candidate on any other political platform.

    Yet, the WIPMG cautioned that “It will not be well with the Itsekiri in Warri” in the election and the 2015 elections if they corner all the positions. “They are hell bent in grabbing all the House of Assembly constituencies in Warri as well as the House of Representative seat. We smell danger in Warri, hence this warning,” Bigha warned.

    Those who know Warri and its history of violence are wont to take such threats seriously. During one of several false starts preceding this Saturday’s election last year, armed Ijaw youths, suspected to be members of the Egbema Radical Group, attacked several Itsekiri villages in the Benin River area of the state. At least 13 persons were killed, hundreds of houses were burnt and nine communities, including Obaghoro, Ajamita, Gbokoda among others, were pillaged.

    Speaking on the Sunday’s threat, an Itsekiri traditional titleholder and chieftain of the PDP in Warri, Chief Ayirimi Emami, who was contacted by our reporter, advised that elective offices are not won by “threat of war or violence” as is being done by their Ijaw counterparts, but “(by) negotiation and political lobbying.”

    Emami further stated that “It is unfortunate and sad that the Ijaws are making threat over an election that is a product of lobbying and choice of credible candidates. People who ran away from the PDP cannot come and dictate candidates to the PDP,” he stated.

    His kinsman from Benin River, who asked not to be named was not so civil in his reaction to the threat. The well-known Itsekiri youth leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, reminded the Ijaws that they “do not have a monopoly on violence.”

    He warned: “This is no time whereby somebody hides in the city and uses his boys to destroy Itsekiri villages. Any attack on Itsekiri villages will be met with equal, if not more violent reprisal on Ijaw towns.”

    Meanwhile, further investigations by Niger Delta Report indicate that the saber-rattling over tomorrow’s election is just a precursor of the battles for tickets of the PDP in the forthcoming primaries of the party in the state. There are four State Assembly, a Federal House of Representatives and one Delta South Senatorial tickets up for grabs. These tickets are coveted by politicians from the two sides.

    Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, an Itsekiri, is widely believed to aspiring for the upper chamber of the National Assembly. He has the incumbent, Senator James Manager, to contend with. There are eight local government areas and four ethnic groups in the district. The Isoko had the first bite of the cherry in 1999, when Senator Stella Omu was elected on the platform of the PDP. In 2003, James Manager succeeded her, in line with the zoning arrangement. He is the only politician in the state to have three unbroken tenure in the senate and there are calls for him to be replaced.

    The Itsekiri, who are next in line are expected to project Uduaghan. By virtue of his position as leader of the leader of the PDP in the state, he is expected to easily picket the ticket. But the Ijaws have a different idea. They have expressed their resolve to challenge the arrangement. The Kurutie group vowed to truncate Uduaghan’s bid, using their superior number of their electoral wards.

    Apostle Monday Torousei and Powede Uyadongha, who spoke for the group, said: “It may interest you to note that the Ijaws with over 40 electoral wards to the Itsekiris’ 16. Ijaws will not stop at anything to deliver Senator Manager to the Nigerian Senate in 2015 elections.”

    But a political analyst views the tough talk as a negotiating strategy. “Maybe they want the slot for any of the constituencies or other position. They want to back the governor into a corner and arm-twist him into releasing some position for their group. That is democracy,” our source added.

    Nevertheless, fears still persist that the 2015 election may be the toughest test yet of the existing peace in the area.  For people living in the riverside communities, particularly in the Benin River and Warri North, the terror of June 2013 is still fresh and a painful reminder of how fluid the peace in Warri.

  • Foreign aid for Tompolo Hospital

    Healthcare delivery to the people of Okerenkoko, Warri South-West Council Area of Delta State, is about to receive a boost as a Netherland-based civil organisation, Hope for Niger Delta Campaign (HNDC), promised to attract foreign aids for its running.

    Founder of the HNDC, Comrade Sunny Ofehe, who disclosed this during a tour of the Okerenkoko Cottage Hospital, run by the Tompolo Foundation to give free medical services to the people of Gbaramatu Kindom, expressed satisfaction at the operations of the healthcare facility.

    Ofehe, whose recent tour of some communities in Bayelsa earlier in the year was marred by the kidnap of himself and other Dutch nationals who accompanied him on the tour, said he defied all security warnings against his visit to Okerenkoko because he believed sincere and people-oriented efforts, like the cottage hospital, should be encouraged.

    He, however, lamented that the sort of experience he and his company in the last trip went through make it difficult to attract much needed international assistance for laudable projects like the Okerenkoko Cottage Hospital.

    “I defied all the security warnings and all people saying that it is not safe for me to come in. If an NGO has done well like setting up a cottage hospital, you need to showcase the work they have done knowing that running such hospital daily cost money and needs equipments.

    “We want to show what we have seen and what we have recorded to the international community and use it as an opportunity to open doors for people to see how they can collaborate with this NGO so that the standard can continue to grow and give the ordinary people the opportunity to have access to good health.

    “I came with some white people the other time, this was same type of project we came for and somewhere along the line we were kidnapped, now I am coming alone, ordinarily if that situation had not happened I would have been here with some white people. I believe that if you bring the white people to come and see for themselves they will help you, they will become ambassadors for the course; they will help to explain it from their cultural perspective, so we are hopeful that something will come out of it”, he said.

    Giving a highlight of the operations of the hospital, Executive Secretary of Tompolo Foundation, Comrade Paul Bebenimibo, said the hospital runs a free service, attending to the ordinary people of the community, adding that the hospital had done more than 600 surgeries in the last two years, even as it attends to an average of 900 patients monthly.

    “Tompolo Foundation took over the running of this hospital after its abandonment by the government following the attack on Gbaramatu, werun free health care for all people, we have handled over 6oo surgeries in the past two years, we have monthly average of 900 patients.

    “We will be glad if we can be assisted with boat ambulance, state of the art equipment, water, generating set, drugs and other assistance”, he said.