The leader of the defunct Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, Government Ekpemupolo, has slammed President Muhammadu Buhari ignorance about situation of the Niger Delta region.
He said the APC-led Federal Government is only interested in the oil produced in the region and not the well-being of its people.
Ekpemupol (aka Tompolo), in his latest letter to the President, also accused him of unfair treatment and alleged molestation of his 84-year-old father, Thompson Ekpemupolo.
He claimed that his octogenarian father lost a lower limb to amputation following his encounter with troops of the Federal Government who invaded Kurutie, Warri South West Local Government Area in May.
He urged the President to take keener interest in the affairs of the region and investigate allegations against him instead of judging him by what politicians say about him.
He said, “As it stand now, you are not abreast with things happening in this part of the country, perhaps you are only abreast with crude oil exploration activities in the Niger Delta region.
“I do not need to remind Your Excellency that, the primary duty of any government is to seek after the welfare and security of the citizenry,” he said.
On his father’s travails, he added, “The military went to Kurutie Town in search of my 84-year-old father and brutalized him. We managed to rescue him to Warri and hospitalised him.
“Sadly, one of his lower limbs was amputated two weeks ago. From the doctors report, it will be a miracle if he survives this incident. Is this 84 years old man also a member of the Niger Delta Avengers, that he was brutalised to the point of death?
“Will your Excellency accept this in good faith if this was done to your father or someone of this age in your family? I have not heard of anyone that was treated like this even in the volatile North Eastern part of the country,” he added
Tompolo, who dwelled extensively on his case with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission as well as the N13bn NIMASA University land acquisition debacle, urged the President to deploy his trusted aides to the area to ascertain the true state of affairs.
He hinted that the issue of his alleged fraud was being used as a tool of blackmail and political vendetta, stressing that if the president took time to investigate the matter the truth would be revealed.
Nevertheless, he maintained his avowal to adopt lawful means always and not violence to prove his case with the EFCC.
Yet he said, “Your Excellency sir, I have been wondering since the beginning of my travails at your instance, and I wish to ask whether, is this part of the fight against corruption in Nigeria? Or was it because I supported my kinsman, former president Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 general elections? I thought everyone in Nigeria has the liberty to support whoever he or she deemed fit in an election.
“And as Dr Jonathan bravely accepted the outcome of the election, which brought you in as President of Nigeria today, I thought you will heal wounds as the father of the Nation. And it was on this premise that I visited you immediately after your swear-in ceremony to pledge my loyalty and readiness to work with your administration.
“I am yet to be told the reason for all these shenanigans exhibited by your security agencies and party members. I really want to know whether this macabre dance is being declared by you or is it out of their own volition to perpetuate this high level of hatred on my person and close associates? It has really gotten to a worrisome dimension as the situation is getting deteriorated by the day.
“The latest victims of this unwarranted, misdirected and wicked act are Hon. Simeon Bebenimibo, a member of the Delta State Waterway and Land Security Committee and a driver of one of my aides, Ebipade Kari, who was on an errand with a little baby.
“The baby was thrown away from the vehicle, as the driver was beaten to pulp by your men, as he was asked the whereabouts of his boss.
“That was not all, the military men stormed the house of one of my younger brothers, and harassed his pregnant wife with guns pointed at her. This has led to complications because of the closeness to her full time of delivery.
“The duo who were arrested are presently in the custody of the Nigerian Army, Effurun. Before this incident, the Navy went to the apartment of another of my aide, and picked up his heavily pregnant wife as he was out of town, and kept her for 24 hours in the Navy base before releasing her.
“The truth of the matter is that I have been treated unfairly by you sir. After all these hullabaloo about the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko, in which I was accused of some wrong doing, you are yet to send emissaries to Okerenkoko (permanent site) and Kurutie( temporary site) of the University to ascertain the level of things on ground.”
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.