Itsekiri rights activist, Madam Rita Lori-Ogbebor, has condemned the award of pipeline protection contract to High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo.
Speaking with reporters in Abuja, on Monday, Lori-Ogbebor said it was wrong to hand over the guard of pipelines to an individual.
The Warri Kingdom traditional chief said it was the duty of the national government to take control of happenings in the oil-rich South-South region.
She accused the authorities of treating a matter involving the nation’s biggest earner of foreign exchange with levity.
The Itsekiri leader wondered why government could not protect oil facilities to prevent theft and other problems.
“There has been a parade of guns in a show of force. The region may be enveloped by war any moment from now,” she warned and demanded that the contract be revoked for peace to reign.
She also decried the state of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), alleging that individuals, including governors, had discarded the NDDC Act and placed their relatives on the board.
There has been controversy over the deal between the Federal Government and Tompolo, who is a leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND).
The award followed years of search for him by government over alleged offences. Tompolo was, arguably, Nigeria’s strongest militant. He got the same deal during the Jonathan presidency.
The Buhari administration reportedly opened talks with him following reports that the country loses over 500,000 barrels of oil daily to illegal bunkering.
Oil Monitoring Group Responds
Meanwhile, the Niger Delta Movement For Radical Change (NDMRC) has faulted Lori-Ogbebor’s position on the contract, accusing her of promoting tribal war.
NDMRC, an oil monitoring group in the region, in a statement signed by its President, Nelly Emma; Secretary, John Sailor; and Public Relations Officer, Stanley Mukoro, and made available to newsmen, yesterday, said: “Our attention has been drawn to the outburst of Chief (Mrs) Rita Lori-Ogbebor on the award of the pipeline contract to Tompolo and we must say that we are saddened by her position on the issue. It is very sad and painful that at a time that we are talking about how to promote national unity and halt the unabated illegal oil bunkering in the oil-rich region, Chief (Mrs) Rita-Lori Ogbebor is bringing tribal issues into the award of the pipeline contract to a respected son of the region, Tompolo. We are highly disappointed with her position on the pipeline contract.
“For the avoidance of doubt, we want to let Chief (Mrs) Rita-Lori Ogbebor know that Tompolo has magnanimously given the Itsekiri aspect of the pipeline contract to an Itsekiri son, Chief Emani Ayiri, in his determination to carry everybody along as far as the pipeline contract is concerned. Rita-Lori Ogbebor is certainly on her own because only recently, Itsekiri youths stormed Oporoza, headquarters of Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri South Council, where they declared their support for Tompolo and promised to work with him on the pipeline contract.”