WARRI—THE governor of one of the South-South states and prominent Ijaw leaders in the Niger Delta region have counseled the ex-General Officer Commanding, GOC, defunct Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, to show up before the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, which renewed a bench warrant for his arrest on Monday.
An Ijaw leader, who preferred anonymity told Vanguard, yesterday: “Our counsel to Tompolo is to avert the possible bombardment of our communities and harassment of innocent citizens by security operatives under the guise of searching for him and perpetrators of the January pipeline bombing in Delta state.”
Meanwhile, the police has withdrawn the security aides approved for Tompolo by the Federal Government since 2009 under the leadership of late President Umaru Yar’Adua.
Vanguard learned that the security aides, who had been with Tompolo for nearly six years, were withdrawn soon after Justice Ibrahim Buba issued the first bench warrant against the ex-militant leader, last month. A source close to Tompolo confirmed the development yesterday.
In addition, security chiefs in the Niger Delta were reportedly strategizing, yesterday, on how to track down Tompolo following the court order to produce him on February 19.
Tension
However, there is tension in Gbaramatu Kingdom following the renewal of the bench warrant. A traditional ruler in the area said: “It is true that there is fear of the unknown in the kingdom now because of the way government is going about the matter. The people are frightened. In my opinion, this is a matter between Tompolo and the government, so they should not make it a Gbaramatu-Ijaw affair.”
Meanwhile, the Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, yesterday, cautioned the security agencies against breaching the freedom of law-abiding citizens of Gbaramatu Kingdom in their manhunt for Tompolo, whose lawyers are in court to explain his position.
Groups plead for time
Buhari-TompoloFoundation for Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Crusade, FHRACC and Ijaw Peoples Development Initiative, IPDI, also appealed to the Federal High Court and Federal Government to give Tompolo time to appear since he had earlier indicated his willingness to appear.
A source said, “The governor and some notable Ijaw politicians got to Tompolo after the first bench warrant was issued, advising him to appear before the court. Honestly, Tompolo is not against appearing in court, but just that the way the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is going about it is clearly to humiliate him.
“He (Tompolo) assured the governor and Ijaw leaders that he would honour the court invitation and he engaged lawyers to vacate the bench warrant and soften the grounds for his appearance so as not to give the EFCC the room to humiliate him as premeditated.
“Actually, this is the position. You know that this whole thing was fuelled by his refusal to join the All Progressives Congress, APC, and help dislocate Govenor Seriake Dickson in the last Bayelsa State governorship poll. He objected and that was where his trouble started. Forget all these charges of money laundering and all that,” he added.
Also, Benenemowei (Chief Mobilizer) of Gbaramatu Kingdom, Chief Godspower Gbenekame, however, told Vanguard: “We cannot deny Tompolo. He is our son, we cannot deny him and we are pleading for soft-landing for him from the Federal Government.
“We are worried just like any other person because we do not see any reason for the renewal of the bench warrant. Tompolo had sent word across that he would appear in court. He just wanted the bench warrant vacated to enable him appear on a level-playing ground to answer to the charges.
“I would have expected the court to listen to him, which is why he challenged the order to enable him have confidence in the court.”
Don’t attack innocent Gbaramatu citizens—IYC
IYC spokesperson, Mr. Eric Omare, said, “At Monday’s proceedings, Tompolo was represented by a respected lawyer, Tayo Oyetibo, SAN, and being that it is a legal matter, the IYC strongly believes that his lawyers would properly advise him.
“On security agencies going after him, we advise that the law should be followed and innocent people should not be victimised. This is a personal matter and on no circumstance should the Gbaramatu Kingdom be attacked under the guise of looking for Tompolo,” he said.
Anxiety mounts
National president of IPDI, Austin Ozobo, said, “As a group, we urge that the rift between Tompolo and Federal Government should be settled out of court to avoid causing genocide in Gbaramatu kingdom. The military option is out of the question because it will only cause damage and lead to break down of law and order.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment