Nigerian Delta chief militant, Chief Government
Ekpemupolo aka Tompolo has come out to refute allegations that he masterminded
the kidnap of 14 journalists in the creeks of Gbaramatu Kingdom in Delta State.
Tompolo, in a statement, said: “It has become
necessary to make this clarification in the face of the deliberate distortion
of facts by some mischief makers bent on denigrating my person and questioning
my integrity before the larger society.
“More so, I am persuaded by the fact of my
experience as a crusader for equity, fairness and justice the world over
including the oppressed people of Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South-West Local
Government Area, who have always found brotherliness and companionship in
members of the fourth estate of the realm.
“In the case of the Ijaw of the Niger Delta which I
have championed over the years, journalists have been worthy partners even as
their contributions have served as veritable means to ventilate our views,
opinions and positions as a people who have had cause to draw global attention
to our plight.
“However, in the matter of the hyped
‘abduction’ of journalists in Oporoza last week, it is pertinent to state
that they were victims of an orchestrated and well-rehearsed saga by their
Itsekiri clients, who lured them into a trap. Suffice it to say that unknown to
the journalists (some of whom are my friends) and before their arrival in
Warri, their Itsekiri hosts had concluded plans to video-capture some Ijaw
settlements, especially Ikpokpo community, to show to the world as Itsekiri
lands in their desperate attempt to distort historical facts, especially as the
hosting/siting of the Export Processing Zone, EPZ, project poses some
challenges.
“It should be noted that the Gbaramatu people have
been agitating for inclusion in the EPZ project since 2012, as of right, that
the part of the land earmarked for the project starting from Ikpokpo community
belongs to them.
“It was on the strength of the above that in
November 2013, the Gbaramatu people were invited alongside other stakeholders,
to the unveiling meeting of the project at Government House Annex Warri by
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and the state government. At the
said meeting, the Gbaramatu people, out of curiosity, inquired why they have
not been recognized as stakeholders by way of acquisition of land from them.
But to their surprise, the governor shut them out of the project and merely
identified them as ‘impacted community.
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