Former militant leader and wanted man, Government Ekpemupolo alias Tompolo, yesterday accused President Muhammadu Buhari of being ignorant of happenings in the Niger Delta.
He said the Buhari administration was only interested in the oil flowing from the Niger Delta, instead of the general wellbeing of its people.
In his latest open letter to Buhari, the former militant leader, who is in hiding following a manhunt for him by the Nigerian government, also accused the president of unfair treatment, alleging molestation of his 84-year-old father, Chief Thompson Ekpemupolo.
According to him, following the encounter the elder Ekpemupolo had with soldiers when they invaded his ancestral home in Kurutie, Warri South West local government area of Delta State two months ago, he lost a lower limb to amputation.
He urged President Buhari to take keener interest in the affairs of the region and investigate allegations against him instead of judging him by what he hears from politicians.
He said: “As it stands now, you are not abreast with things happening in this part of the country. Perhaps you are only abreast with crude oil exploration activities in the Niger Delta region.
“I do not need to remind Your Excellency that the primary duty of any government is to seek after the welfare and security of the citizenry”.
On his father’s travails, he said: “The military went to Kurutie town in search of my 84-year-old father and brutalised him. We managed to rescue him to Warri and hospitalised him.
“Sadly, one of his lower limbs was amputated two weeks ago. From the doctor’s report, it will be a miracle if he survives this incident.
“Is this 84-year-old man also a member of the Niger Delta Avengers, that he was brutalised to the point of death?
“Will your Excellency accept this in good faith if this was done to your father or someone of this age in your family?
“I have not heard of anyone that was treated like this even in the volatile North Eastern part of the country”.
Tompolo also touched on the fraud allegations leveled against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, urging the president to deploy his trusted aides to the area to ascertain the true state of affairs.
He hinted that the issue of his alleged fraud was being used as a tool of blackmail and political vendetta, stressing that if Mr. Buhari took time to investigate the matter, the truth would be revealed.
He added: “I have been wondering since the beginning of my travails at your instance, and I wish to ask whether, is this part of the fight against corruption in Nigeria? Or was it because I supported my kinsman, former president Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 general elections?
“I thought everyone in Nigeria has the liberty to support whoever he or she deemed fit in an election.
“And as Dr Jonathan bravely accepted the outcome of the election, which brought you in as President of Nigeria today, I thought you will heal wounds as the father of the nation. And it was on this premise that I visited you immediately after your swear-in ceremony to pledge my loyalty and readiness to work with your administration.
“I am yet to be told the reason for all these shenanigans exhibited by your security agencies and party members”.
