Militants Ask FG To Drop Charges Against Tompolo

                                

Niger Delta militants have asked the Federal Government to drop charges against Government Ekpemupolo, also known as Tompolo, and other leaders of the region.

The militants also criticised the meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and Niger Delta elders, saying the elders were only at the meeting to promote their selfish interests.

Leaders of the Niger Delta Peoples Democratic Front, Ultimate Warriors of Niger Delta, and other major players in the Niger Delta Avengers, who spoke with SUNDAY PUNCH on Saturday, said they were not a party to the 16-point demand presented by their leaders to Buhari.

The leader of the NDPDF, simply identified as General Playboy, said, “The stakeholders are talking about negotiation. They are talking about $10bn for Niger Delta people; they (stakeholders) are thinking about oil blocs that will be released to Niger Delta people and how they will share it among themselves. That is the only thing they are thinking of.

“They have refused to talk about the fact that there is a matter against Tompolo that should be dropped. None of the stakeholders is thinking about others; they are only thinking of themselves. But it will not work as far as I am concerned except President Buhari comes down here to know the problem of the Niger Delta.  That is when Nigeria will have peace. If not, there will be no peace. We are not interested in what the stakeholders went to do in Abuja.’’

The militant leader said a situation where ex-agitators like Mujaheed Asari-Dokubo, Boyloaf and Soboma Jackrich (Egberipapa) were not part of the stakeholders’ meeting, was an indication that government was not ready for peace.

“Any meeting geared towards peace without protecting Tompolo’s interest will fail. Tompolo himself cannot come out to negotiate his freedom. As far as we are concerned, Tompolo’s case needs a political resolution, just like that of Henry Okah and Charles Okah,” he said.

“These are forces in the region that should not be undermined. We want the Federal Government as part of the dialogue process to get a legal framework to free Okah and let Tompolo have peace otherwise peace will continue to elude the region, and oil pipelines will be blown off continuously to protest their persecution.”