Earlier this week, militant leader Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, summoned a meeting of ex-militant warlords in Yenagoa for tomorrow. Among the issues on the agenda are President Muhammadu Buhari's revocation of their pipeline protection contracts and the loss of scholarship some of their members have recently suffered.
Upon assuming office, President Buhari ordered the immediate termination of the coastal and pipeline protection contract awarded to Tompolo by President Goodluck Jonathan. In a separate setback for the militants, certain German aviation schools have let go of their members training as pilots because the lack of a Niger Delta minister means that their fees have not been paid.
Exasperated with how they have fallen from grace so quickly, the militant leaders will meet in Yenagoa over the weekend amid calls that they should go back into the creeks to resume fighting. Tompolo, who is a close confidant of former President Goodluck Jonathan, is said to be bitter about the decision of the federal government to terminate his surveillance contract.
Although the agenda of the meeting was closely guarded by the ex-militants, they may also deliberate on issues pertaining to the alleged plan by the administration of President Buhari to arrest President Jonathan and probe his government. They are also likely to discuss the refusal to accede to the plea by the people of the region for the quick appointment of a substantive special adviser on the amnesty programme and the payment of allowances and scholarship fees to ex-militants undergoing training in Nigeria and abroad.
One ex-militant, who was a member of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (Mend), said that the meeting might also deliberate on the formation of a new Mend and take a position on the actions of Buhari since his assumption of office. He added: “We are not meeting to declare war but the meeting will carefully discuss issues of interest as it affects the Niger Delta region.”
“If you check the region since the assumption of power by President Buhari, there are signs of tension due to the administration’s perceived animosity against the region and the beneficiaries of the federal government’s amnesty programme. Women have cried out and have pleaded but no answer from Buhari and we cannot fold our arms and let the boys be provoked into violence.”
Last month, former Ijaw Youth Council chairman Mujahid Asari Dokubo insisted that President Buhari must pay he and other organisations contracted by former president Jonathan to protect Nigeria's oil pipelines. It is not yet clear if Mujahid Dokubo will attend tomorrow's meeting.
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