Tompolo in the cold as Amnesty offer elapses
Tompolo who led armed members of MEND to attack, hijack a ship and kidnap its crew members at the Gbaramatu kingdom creeks in Delta State, also sank a military gun boat and killed some soldiers that went to rescue the ship. The incident sparked off a fierce battle between militants in the region and soldiers […]
Tompolo who led armed members of MEND to attack, hijack a ship and kidnap its crew members at the Gbaramatu kingdom creeks in Delta State, also sank a military gun boat and killed some soldiers that went to rescue the ship. The incident sparked off a fierce battle between militants in the region and soldiers from the Joint Task Force (JTF) code named “Operation Restore Hope.” Tompolo’s led MEND is also accused of being responsible for blowing up pipelines in the area and kidnapping many foreigners and oil workers operating in the region.
Tompolo and his group had earlier rejected the amnesty offer ,saying the federal government had to extend the deadline for the offer and go into a special agreement with them. But chairman of the amnesty committee and minister of defence, retired General Godwin Agbe said the deadline would not be extended and no conditions would be accepted by government as the amnesty offer itself was unconditional.
Efforts to reach Tompolo on his mobile phone for comments on the matter were not successful as he was not picking his calls. However, a member of the group and a close ally to Tompolo, who simply identified himself as Chester said it would be in the interest of the nation for the government to negotiate with MEND, adding, “There is nothing anybody can do on security in the region without involving MEND. Government will only be wasting its time if it decides to go ahead and do anything in this region without MEND.
MEND has not ruled out accepting amnesty. What we said was that we did not trust the amnesty offer by the government to the militants. We did not ask for it and nobody from all the communities in the region asked for amnesty on behalf of the militants. There are very clear indications that the amnesty offer made by the government is just a gimmick. The militants in the Niger Delta will not allow the government to deceive them or deceive the people of the region. Government should accept to talk with us in order to have a genuine peace in the area,” he said.
But one of the repentant militants, Greg Akhatagbo said the end of the road for the militants that refused to accept the amnesty had come. He said the militants that were genuinely fighting on behalf of their various communities had all accepted the amnesty, leaving those that were fighting for their selfish interests. He said leaders of all the communities in the region met at their various communities and told all the militants in the region to accept the amnesty offered by the government.
“If the communities you are fighting for said you should drop your arms and accept amnesty, who are you to say no? It is only those that have their own personal agenda that will be dragging their feet. When you know you are fighting for the community and the community says drop your arms, you just obey. The only reason why those guys that refused to accept the amnesty will survive is if the government refuses to fulfil its own side of the bargain. In that case, we shall all regret accepting the amnesty and those that refused to accept it will now be the heroes. We do not pray for that.
“A good number of those militants that have accepted the amnesty have made very useful explanations to the JTF and other security forces. It will be very difficult for Tompolo and others that refused to accept the amnesty to hide or wage any successful war again because the whole secret of the creeks might have been leaked to the JTF soldiers and the security. I am sure some of the repentant militants may assist the soldiers to arrest erring militants especially if government keep to its own bargain.
“This is one of the problems Tompolo and his men may be facing. You know the military are angrier with him than with any other militant in the zone. His group was responsible for the killing of those soldiers and the sinking of the military gun boat that sparked off the trouble in the Warri creeks. The JTF knew his group was responsible for the attack and destruction of the flow stations in Delta, the piracy and the kidnapping cases. I am sure he will suffer it more. All the community leaders want us to accept the amnesty but Tompolo and MEND members were dragging their feet,” he said.
A top military, officer of the JTF in Warri who spoke on condition of anonymity, said while the government would be engaged in rehabilitating the repentant militants and providing amenities to all the communities in the region, the JTF would cleanse the entire area in a very professional manner to rid it of all illegal arms. He said illegally acquired and deposited arms would be recovered while militants that refused to acceptthe amnesty would be dealt with according to the law.
“We now have a clearer picture of the creeks and I am sure there will be some volunteers from among the repentant militants that will lead us to pick those that may wish to foment trouble. We may embark on a sort of government/community cleansing operation. Remember the case of Kingsley who was arrested by his community leaders in Odi in Bayelsa State and handed over to the police before he later died. There is absolute peace in that community now. Most of the communities are ready to work with us in arresting and handing over notorious members of the communities to the police.
“From the plans we have so far, the Niger Delta will soon be as safe and free as other parts of the country. Just watch and see the very good resettlement plans the government will unveil for the repentant militants and the kind of developmental projects that will be executed in this region within the next few years. The people of the region will now know that peace is the only thing that can bring development to any part of the globe. There is no plans for the JTF to embark on any military campaign but the area will be cleansed in a joint military/community effort,” he said.
Within the past few days preceding today’s dateline for militants to surrender their arms and embrace the amnesty deal, several militant groups came out enmasse and surrendered their arms. One of such groups was the dreaded ‘Underdogs’ being led by ‘Commander’ Ezekiel Apasebewa, who operated from the Egbema communities in Delta State. Apasebewa led about 250 armed men from his group that specialises in blowing pipelines and flow stations last Tuesday, September 29, to surrender what was described as the largest arm catch so far surrendered by any militant group in the state. The event took place at Koko, the headquarters of Warri North Local Government Area of Delta state.
The surrender witnessed by the Military Coordinator of the amnesty programme, Lieutenant. Commander Yahaya Chindo, came few days after another warlord, John Togo who operated from the border areas between Bayelsa and Delta States surrendered his own arms at Ogodobiri, home of former Police Affairs Minister, Aleowei Broadrick Bozimo in Bomadi Local Government Area also of Delta State.
But before laying their arms at Koko, the Apasebewa-led militant group protested the handing over of their arms to anybody other than the state governor. That decision raised a mild tension and confusion at the Koko disarmament centre when Apasebewa who had earlier displayed his arms vehemently insist he was not going to handover to any of the government officials around the place except when the state governor came in person to collect them from him. Unfortunately, however, a governor Uduaghan was only represented by an aide at the occasion. The militants said they were afraid of being blackmailed by the strange faces wanting to collect the arms from them.
Commander Apasebewa was heard saying on top of his voice, “Let them kill only me and allow my boys to go. I want to return my arms to the governor himself and nobody else. His presence would somehow guarantee our safety as I do not trust this people (the military and government officials around).” He commanded his men who outnumbered the military and government officials around to remove the arms and return them to the creeks.
But the Security Adviser to the state governor, Chief Sheriff Oborevwori, who represented Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan at the event, a repentant militant, ‘General’ John Togo, military top officials around the place and other community leaders pleaded with him to surrender to the coordinator of the amnesty. Apasebewa later succumbed to the pressure and handed over 81 assorted guns and ammunitions.
Giving details of the arms he handed over, Apasebewa said he surrendered five General Purposes Machine Guns (GPMG), 16 G3 rifles, seven FN rifles, six Sub-Machine Guns (SMG), eight AK47 rifles, two pistols, one BMG, 10 pump actions guns, one Rocket Propelled Gun (RPG), five local Dane guns, eight prima guns, two RPG premiere, three hand grenades, locally made dynamites, large quantities of assorted ammunitions and two walkie-talkies.
Answering reporters’ questions shortly after submitting the arms to the military Coordinator of the amnesty, militant leader ‘Commander’ Apasebewa warned that unless the federal government fulfilled its own part of the bargain, the nation would surely witness worse situation than the previous one in the near future as thousands of youths that were still in the creeks would take up the struggle from where they stopped. He said his visit to Abuja sometimes ago opened his eyes to the neglect and deprivation his community had been undergoing since the advent of oil which formed the bulk of the total revenue in the country.
“While billions of oil money was used to develop Abuja, millions of the people whose lands the oil is explored from and who suffer environmental problems because of oil exploration suffer and wallow in abject poverty. The reason we are laying down our arms is because the federal government has promised to develop our region and make it look like Abuja, give jobs to our youths and make the oil companies operating in our region pay compensations for the damages they cause. If government fails to do all this things, then anything can happen,” he said.
Earlier, ‘General’ John Togo, had surrendered four Sub-Machine Guns (SMG), one General Purposes Machine Gun (GPMG), six AK-47 rifles, two G3 rifles, one Navy rifle, two Pump Action rifle, three FN rifles, and one Mark 4 rifle. Other arms surrendered by the group include 16 AK-47 Magazines, 5 FN magazines, 4 tins of ammo and 30 dynamites explosives.
‘General’ Togo said about 94 of his “foot soldiers” carrying assorted arms were still holed up in the creeks due to lack of transportation. He said the “foot soldiers” were willing to come over and surrender their arms. Togo said he was making arrangement to bring them over to the disarmament centre to surrender their arms since he got assurance that the federal government amnesty program would carter for the region.
Togo, who was earlier arrested by the JTF after he reportedly attacked the Chairman of Western Zone of the Ijaw National Congress, Chief Samson Mamamu, at his Salvation City community, Ogbe-Ijoh, however, expressed delight over the amnesty offered to the militants by President Yar’ Adua, adding that he was accepting the amnesty to save his people and give the federal government the benefit of doubt to unveil its blueprint for the Niger Delta region.
He said he would not go back to the creek for militia activities unless the federal government failed to develop the impoverish communities in the Niger Delta region after the amnesty programme. Togo, who is known as a very notorious militant, was remanded for about three years on militia related offences before his release in 2008. His group is believed to be the major militia group with the largest number of dynamites used for blowing up flow stations and pipelines in the area.