SECURITY forces have placed the traditional ruler of the Gbaramatu Kingdom in Delta State under house arrest and forced the father of Niger Delta militant leader Government Ekpemupolo popularly known as Tompolo to flee the town.
Over recent weeks, soldiers have stepped up their hunt for Tompolo after a Lagos high court issued a warrant for his arrest over his involvement in pipeline protection contracts. He has since gone into hiding but the development has sparked a new wave of militancy in the region with a new group known as the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) emerging and blowing up oil installations and pipelines.
Tompolo has since disassociated himself from the NDA and urged them to lay down their arms and dialogue with the government. However, this has not stopped the manhunt and over the weekend, soldiers invaded Gbaramatu looking for him, forcing local residents to flee for their lives.
Owing to the invasion, the community looked like a ghost town, as institutions providing essential services, including health facilities, schools and the jetty from which many businesses in the area are transacted, were deserted. Tompolo has repeatedly denied stoking the return of violent agitations in the region but many believe that he cannot extricate himself from the ongoing crisis, which has cut Nigeria’s oil exports by about 50%.
The growing unease in Oporoza village in Gbaramatu, Tompolo’s hometown, coincided with the visit yesterday of the chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Office, General Paul Boroh, who told the embattled king, William Ogoba Oboro Gbaraun, that the federal government was deeply worried about the renewed violent activities of the militants. Over the weekend 10 suspects picked up by the military and paraded, were found to be workers in the guesthouse and the king’s palace but were unfortunate to be in the area at the wrong time.
Brigadier Farouk Yahaya, the commander of the 4 Brigade, Benin, said while parading the suspects that the army recovered 28 detonator cords, two pistols, 196 rounds of 7.62 special ammunition, one round of nine millimetre ammunition, a live cartridge and five daggers from the suspects. Other items found in the area, he said, were 15 handheld radio sets, 18 phones, 203 SIM cards, five swimsuits, two headlamps, a laptop, two iPads and a camera.
Also, Brigadier Yahaya insisted that the youths who were arrested during the operation were linked to several cases of bombing of oil and gas facilities in the region, alleging that they were most likely the people breaching critical national assets in the region. In Tompolo’s guesthouse, which served as his temporary residence before he was declared wanted, a company of soldiers numbering over 60 had taken over the white-coloured building at the time.
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