....As Tompolo Send His Village Women To Protest Despite State Governor Peace Accord Reached

Yesterday, the State Governor met with the leaders of the three tribes and requested that all protests and agitation be called off to allow the government to mediate on the issue. However, surprisingly, this morning, Tompolo sent Gbaramatu Ijaw women to stage a protest at oil flow stations.

This is a direct affront to, and a sign of disrespect for the Governor of Delta State. It could also encourage others to follow the same path. No Urhobo or Itsekiri man should fall into what is described here as the game of Tompolo and his associates.

I have maintained that Tompolo is behind the crisis surrounding the ward delineation issue, which was threatening the lives of Ijaw, Urhobo, and Itsekiri youths. He has now proven this by sending Gbaramatu women to continue protesting at Olero Field even after the peace accord reached with the Governor.

It is very obvious that Tompolo want to use the ward delineation issue as a means of causing a serious breakdown of law and order and then use the resulting crisis as leverage to pressure the Federal Government into renewing pipeline surveillance contracts for him and this will never happen.

If Tompolo previously succeeded in using the deaths of Nigerian military personnels, the destruction of Okuama community, and the killings of youths in Ogbomotoro, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, as factors that contributed to the renewal of pipeline surveillance contract for him and was not decentralized across Niger States. We are now aware of those tactics and plans, and they will not work this time.

It is noteworthy that many youths of Ijaw extraction in the region reportedly declined calls to enter into conflict with their neighbors. Likewise, many chief priests of the Ijaw nation refused calls to support Tompolo’s agenda spiritually.

Tompolo is known only for fighting local crisis with his neighbor and should not continue pushing youths into crises that cost them their lives while he and his family enjoy the benefits and live comfortably.

Tompolo, Tantita Security Services can not receive trillions of naira to protect oil and gas infrastructure while sending Gbaramatu women to obstruct the same facilities.

Tompolo and Tantita Security Services have been involved in operating private prisons, kidnapping, killings, and beheading of Nigerians, and such acts amount to banditry and terrorism and should be treated accordingly under the law.

For this reason, the Federal Government should recognize that decentralizing pipeline surveillance contracts across the Niger Delta states is the best approach for national security and the protection of oil and gas infrastructure. Entrusting the security of an entire region’s pipelines to one individual is a major national security risk, as that person could act against government interest if dissatisfied.

Decentralization, with state-based stakeholders and host communities managing surveillance responsibilities, is the best path toward peace, accountability, national security, and increasing Nigeria’s crude oil production beyond two million barrels per day.

I call on the DSS, the NSA, and other security agencies to arrest Government Ekpemupolo (aka Tompolo), Chairman of Tantita Security Services; Mathew Tonlagha (aka Don Cripple), Vice Chairman of Tantita Security Services; Kestin Pondi, Managing Director of Tantita Security Services; and Godfrey Pondi, General Manager of Tantita Security Services.

If no action is taken, then President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should consider whether his security chiefs are complicit in the crimes committed by Tompolo and the Tantita Security Group.