{"id":11517,"date":"2016-09-16T21:38:54","date_gmt":"2016-09-16T21:38:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=11517"},"modified":"2016-09-16T21:52:07","modified_gmt":"2016-09-16T21:52:07","slug":"tompolo-threatens-to-return-to-the-creeks-accuses-buhari-of-incompetence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=11517","title":{"rendered":"Tompolo threatens to return to the creeks, accuses Buhari of incompetence"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><code><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/code><\/p>\n<p class=\"first\">Ex-militant leader, Chief Government Ekpemupolo, has accused the Federal Government of planning to use his arrest to get at former President Goodluck Jonathan.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Ekpemupolo, who is widely known as Tompolo, said the former president was the primary target of the Buhari administration.<\/p>\n<p>Tompolo, who is a fugitive having so far declined to answer a summons by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), said the government&#8217;s plan to arrest him was a smokescreen to get at Mr. Jonathan.<\/p>\n<p><code><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alternativeadvert.com\/show.php?z=30&amp;pl=10575&amp;ad_type=59&amp;rl=180\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/code><\/p>\n<p>In a rare exclusive interview, Tompolo also alleged\u00a0that his father, who died last week, was physically assaulted by Nigeria&#8217;s\u00a0security agents on May 26, 2016 when they invaded Kurutie town in\u00a0the Gbaramatu local government area where his late father, Thomas<br \/>\nEkpemupolo, resided before his death.<\/p>\n<p>The former militant said the soldiers who attacked\u00a0his aged father also ransacked his and others&#8217; homes in the community. According to him, his late father\u00a0suffered serious bodily injuries which resulted in the<br \/>\namputation of his lower limbs.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I am just a victim of circumstances. I am\u00a0just a perceived enemy of the government,&#8221; Tompolo said in the interview. He added: &#8220;The intention of the government was to arrest former President\u00a0Goodluck Jonathan. But they feel that arresting Jonathan without\u00a0arresting me may be difficult, that was the reason why they are after\u00a0me.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He offered more details on his father\u2019s death, stating, &#8220;It happened in the early hours of\u00a0Saturday May 28, 2016 when the Nigerian Army, under the guise of looking for members of the Niger Delta Avengers and of course my humble self, who they have accused of being behind the activities of the group without any evidence, invaded Kurutie town, where my father,\u00a0Chief Thomas Ekpemupolo, was staying.\u00a0They ransacked the whole building and brutalized him. He sustained an\u00a0injury in one of his legs. We took him to Warri for medical attention\u00a0after one week of the incident, due to difficulty in movement from the\u00a0village to Warri because of the activities of the Army.\u00a0 He was\u00a0admitted at Lily Clinic, where thorough medical tests were conducted\u00a0on him.\u00a0The doctors later advised that his lower limb should be amputated\u00a0because complication had set in as a result of the injury. We agreed\u00a0to this and that was done.\u00a0However, he later died in the clinic after two months.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Tompolo described claims by security forces that he has been sponsoring the\u00a0dreaded\u00a0 militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers, as &#8220;baseless and\u00a0a wicked allegation.&#8221; He said, &#8220;I have refuted the allegation. Even the government knows that I am\u00a0not a sponsor of the Niger Delta Avengers. They are only looking for\u00a0something to nail me.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He took a swipe at Nigeria&#8217;s judicial system, which he said kow-tows to the government in purely legal matters. He advocated that\u00a0 the\u00a0judiciary should be independent in order to be effective in serving the people,\u00a0especially in matters involving &#8220;perceived enemies of the state.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Tompolo added, &#8220;I was the first person to sue the government and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) because my company\u2019s account was restricted unjustly, but till now, the court has been playing funny, as the court has refused to hear the matter. Instead, it has been adjourning the case at every sitting. I\u00a0pray that the Nigerian Judiciary should be independent, otherwise it is difficult for a perceived enemy of the government to get justice and judgement.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Tompolo also criticized President Muhammadu Buhari, stating that the retired Army General does not have a clue about how to manage the economy of the country, as evidenced by Nigeria&#8217;s\u00a0present economic situation.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Now Nigerians have seen the way the government has run the economy aground because they are clueless, and only chasing shadows. It is difficult to give what you do not have.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He threatened to return to the creeks as a militant because the Federal Government has failed the people, adding that the only way he could help his\u00a0people may be to go back to the creeks and lay among his people, as he had\u00a0done in the past.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That is where I come from, and the whole of my life I have\u00a0stayed there. This is just a temporary setback as I prefer to stay in\u00a0the creek than any other place,&#8221; said Tompolo.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That was why I led the struggle for a better living condition for\u00a0the people so that, in the shortest possible time, the creek is\u00a0urbanized so that the people will live like their counterparts in the\u00a0urban areas,&#8221; he added. Source: saharareporters<a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Tompolo.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-8910\" src=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Tompolo-300x234.jpg\" alt=\"Tompolo\" width=\"300\" height=\"234\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><code><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/code><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alternativeadvert.com\/show.php?z=30&amp;pl=10575&amp;ad_type=59&amp;rl=180\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ex-militant leader, Chief Government Ekpemupolo, has accused the Federal Government of planning to use his arrest to get at former President Goodluck Jonathan. Mr. Ekpemupolo, who is widely known as Tompolo, said the former president was the primary target of the Buhari administration. Tompolo, who is a fugitive having so far declined to answer a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":8910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[1214,299,2977,882],"class_list":["post-11517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","tag-gbaramatu","tag-goodluck-jonathan","tag-thomas-ekpemupolo","tag-tompolo"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Tompolo-e1726840968820.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4oswh-2ZL","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11517"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11517\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11519,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11517\/revisions\/11519"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}