Tompolo writes Buhari complaining about how torture led to his father's leg being amputated

NIGER Delta militant leader Government Ekpemupolo popularly known as Tompolo has written to President Muhammadu Buhari asking him to reign in security agents who are harassing his family and have paralysed his 84 year old father.

 

Earlier this year, Tompolo was declared wanted and as a result, troops have flooded his native Gbaramatu Kingdom in Delta State looking to arrest him. However, Tompolo has gone into hiding, so the security forces have resorted to harassing the members of his family and wrecking havoc in his town in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State.

 

Tompolo has now written to President Buhari complaining that his 84-year-old father has been manhandled in Kurutie community in Gbaramatu Kingdom, resulting in the amputation of his lower limbs, two weeks ago. In an open letter to the president in which he indicated might be his last, Tompolo said the continuous harassment and intimidation was getting out of hand and he does not deserve it.

 

According to Tompolo, after the military invaded Kurutie and brutalized his father, sympathisers managed to rescue him to Warri, where the hospital admitted him. Tompolo alleged that the harassment and intimidation was carried out by the Nigeria Army, Navy and Department of State Services, in connivance with two chieftains of the All Progressives Congress in Delta State, Chief Ayiri Emami and Chief Michael Johnny.

 

Tompolo added: “Sadly, one of his lower limbs was amputated two weeks ago. From the doctor’s report, it will be a thing of miracle if he survives this incident.

 

"Is this 84 year old man also a member of the Niger Delta Avengers that they brutalised to the point of death?  I have not heard of anyone that was treated like this even in the volatile north Eastern part of the country."

 

However, Chief Emami dismissed the allegation by Tompolo, saying he was not behind his ordeal. He added: “If the security agencies are doing their job, I support them, I owe Tompolo no apology.

 

"All I know is that they are causing damage to the country with the bombing of pipelines and if they want the security agencies to stop disturbing them, they should stop blowing up pipelines. To me, the security agencies are not even doing enough to stop the pipeline bombings, they should get to the root of the matter and stop the perpetrators.”

 

Chief Johnny also denied that he was responsible for the arrest of any person by the security agencies. He also said it was not true that he threatened the secretary of the Ijaw People Development Initiative, Daniel Ezekiel on phone for allegedly revealing the names of informants that led soldiers to arrest of a Tompolo associate in Warri.