Ijaw youths blow up Delta oil pipelines in response to court order for Tompolo's arrest

ARMED youths have taken over the streets of Warri South West Local Government Area blowing up strategic oil pipelines in reaction to recent court order calling for the arrest of  ex-militant Government Ekpemupolo popularly known as Tompolo.

 

Last year, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) invited Tompolo to its Lagos offices to come and answer charges relating to supply contracts he was awarded by the Goodluck Jonathan administration. Tompolo, who is also the Gbaramatu traditional titleholder in Ijawland, was a major beneficiary under the Goodluck regime, protecting Nigeria's coastline, pipelines and being a major contractor.

 

However, Tompolo shunned the invitation, calling it political vendetta for him refusing to join the All Progressives Congress (APC). Following his repeated refusal to visit the EFCC, a Federal High Court in Lagos ordered security operatives to arrest Tompolo in connection with an alleged N34bn fraud.

 

Angry at the possibility of one of their leaders being arrested, Ijaw youths in Delta State have blown up the oil installations between Ikpokpo and Odidi flow stations, in Gbaramatu Kingdom. Tompolo has denied any involvement in the attack and gone ahead to condemn it as an act of vandalism which he does not support.

 

Tompolo said: “I am not responsible for the attack and I condemn it as a dastardly act. I am aware that some persons might want to destroy oil installations and link it with me.

 

"This is why I said that I have nothing to do with it. I could not have gone ahead to carry out such action knowing that every finger would  be pointed at me because of my case with the federal government."

 

He said he was willing to help the federal government and relevant security operatives fish out the masterminds of the attacks and bring them to book. Hundreds of residents of the riverside communities in Delta State were fleeing their homes yesterday for fear that fresh  hostilities might break out between militants and soldiers on account of the blowing up of the pipelines.

 

Tompolo’s kinsmen are divided over the latest uprising in their kingdom with Gbaramatu leaders expressing fears that the attack  could trigger fresh mayhem on innocent members of the kingdom. Some have urged Tompolo to honour the EFCC invitation, while others have accused the APC-led federal government of intimidation.

 

“We are solidly behind Tompolo because his case is our case. This is nothing but an attempt to cow him and the Ijaw man can never succumb to intimidation and blackmail. They want to force him to join the APC but he refused that’s why they are after him,” one community activist said.