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| Tompolo |
Armed
youths in Delta State yesterday blew up strategic pipelines in the
Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State in what some
residents feared to be a reaction to the Thursday court order for the
arrest of ex-militant Government Ekpemupolo alias Tompolo by security
operatives.
Blown up were several oil installations
between Ikpokpo and Odidi flow stations, mostly in Gbaramatu kingdom,
just hours after a Federal High Court in Lagos ordered security
operatives to arrest Ekpemupolo in connection with an alleged
N34billion fraud.
The development sparked fresh tension in Tompolo’s Gbaramatu sphere of influence.
But the ex-war lord denied involvement in the attack .
“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. That was why I
said before time that I have nothing to do with it,” he said.
“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.”
Tompolo, who spoke through Mr Paul Bebenimibo, his media aide, urged those who carried out the attacks to change their ways.
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.
Justice Ibrahim Buba issued a bench
warrant for Tompolo’s arrest after he failed to report in court to
face criminal charges filed against him by the Economic and Finacial
Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The explosions started shortly before midnight and raged till the early hours of yesterday.
Hundreds of residents of the riverside
communities 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.
Odidi flow stations were said to be on fire at press time.
Residents of the riverside communities said smoke filled the air.
“A trunk line was blown up with
suspected (IED) Improvised Explosive Device in the early hours of today
and there are report of armed gangs patrolling the waterways,” a
reliable security operative said.
It was gathered that the armed groups
started mobilizing as early as 11am on Thursday and commenced the
destruction of oil installations in the wee hours of Friday.
“Several explosions were also heard
across the communities in Warri SW as bombs were going off, shots were
being fired sporadically. We do not know if anybody was killed, but the
shooting was much and it continued for several hours,” a source said.
It could not be independently
ascertained if the incidents affected oil production activities of the
oil companies operating in the area, including Chevron Nigeria Limited
and NECONDE, among others.
Col Isa Ado of the Joint Media Campaign
Centre of the Joint Task Force did not respond to telephone call and
was yet to return the call at press time.
However, it was learnt that transportation to and from oil locations and riverside communities was disrupted.
A source said: “Boats conveying workers
going on time-off could not leave Escravos this morning due to the
insecurity in the waterways. There is tension and we are taking
precautionary measures to safeguard our staff and contractors,” an oil
company official said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Tompolo’s kinsmen are divided over the latest uprising in their kingdom.
Gbaramatu leaders, who mostly spoke on
condition of anonymity ostensibly due to fear of possible backlash,
expressed fears that the attack could trigger fresh mayhem on innocent
members of the kingdom.
“EFCC invitation is not a death
sentence, if you are invited to and clear your name. Nobody should drag
the nation into another avoidable chaos,” one community leader said.
Chief Michael Johnny, an indigene of
Okerenkoko, told our reporter in a telephone conversation that the
Gbaramatu people have no grievance with the Federal Government.
On Friday’s bombing, Johnny said: “I am
aware there is tension in the waterways but I don’t think my people are
planning for war, so am not worried.”
Another source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, accused the All Progressive Party-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.”
Ekpemupolo who hails from Kurutie
community in Gbaramatu had claimed on Thursday that some people who
are aggrieved by the re-election of Governor Henry Seriake-Dickson of
Bayelsa State last weekend were planning to bomb crude oil facilities
and pipelines and other facilities in the Niger Delta and blame same on
him
He asked such people “ not to resort to
destruction of national assets, especially crude oil facilities and
pipelines and attribute it to me because of my position on the
election.”
Destroying crude oil facilities,he said,
would not do the country any good and urged them “to support the
President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to succeed.”
Tompolo alleged that he was being
persecuted for refusing to support the All Progressives Congress, APC,
governorship candidate, in the Bayelsa election.
-TheNation