Anxiety as Tompolo rallies MEND commanders

Ex-militant and founding member of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) Chief Government Ekpemupolo, who has hitherto maintained a low profile since the election and inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari, is in the news again.

Also known as Tompolo, he has reportedly reached out to former commanders of the militant group in the region to gather for a meeting on Saturday, which is creating concerns for security agencies in that area.

It would be recalled that Tompolo, an ardent supporter of former President Goodluck Jonathan, who also enjoyed tremendous goodwill from that administration, was one of those who vowed that there would be chaos if Jonathan lost the presidential election.

His latest move is viewed in some quarters as a precursor to reviving the deadly group that crippled oil production in the region from 2005.

The meeting being convened by Tompola is slated for Izon House in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

The invitation reads: “My dearly beloved Commanders and Leaders of various wings of the Movement of the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), I greet you all.

“It is my pleasure to humbly invite you to a very crucial and urgent meeting as follows:

Venue: Izon House, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

“Date (of the meeting is) Saturday, July 25th, 2015. Time (is) 2pm Prompt,” concluded the letter, with Tompolo signing off with his traditional title – Izon Ibe-Ebidouwei of Izon nation.

Read also: Expect war if our son loses presidential poll – Militants

Contacted, Tompolo said the meeting was to deliberate on recent developments in Nigeria as well as the fate of the Niger Delta region in the current political dispensation.

Tompolo, who spoke through his media aide, Comrade Paul Bebenimibo, who did not divulge further detail about the meeting, said the MEND leaders would chart a path for the progress of the region.

It was gathered that he was placed under security watch following the defeat of Jonathan in the March 28 presidential election.

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