By Emegwoako C. Paschal
Former Militant leader known as Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, has sent out dozens of gunboats and an army of youths into the Niger Delta region’s creeks in order to apprehend pipeline vandals, illegal refiners, and illegal oil installations.
The Federal Government and Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited recently awarded the former Movement for Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) commander an N4.5 billion monthly surveillance contract to secure oil installations and pipelines in Delta and some areas of Bayelsa and Rivers states.
Despite the controversy surrounding the contract, it was understood that Tompolo had finished his preparations and had started working to stop the oil thieves whose actions threatened to destroy the nation’s economy.
Several speedboats and gunboats, including members of the Navy, Army, and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), set out on their first operation on Monday, September 26th, according to a source close to the former agitator.
He stated that more than 1000 young people took part in the joint operation and went to the creeks with the armed operatives on their first assignment. He asserted that the young people chosen for the operation came from host communities within the service areas covered by the contract.
He asserted that the joint task force would locate and shut down illegal refineries, capture their operators, find illegal connections on pipelines, and prevent community sabotage of oil installations, adding in a warning that those who persisted in their actions after the period of awareness would be detained and turned over to security agencies.
The Chief Superintending Officer (CSO), Supreme Egbesu Order (ESU), Tompolo’s traditional religion, Apostle Bodmas Kemepadei, confirmed the deployment and called it massive, predicting it would put an end to oil theft in the region where Tompolo’s contract is in effect.
Before Tompolo set sail, Kemepadei claimed he had consulted with stakeholders, illegal oil bunkers, and regional leaders in an effort to find a long-term solution to oil theft.
