Kachikwu knows I don’t need pipeline contract, says Tompolo

Government Ekpemupolo, ex-militant leader better known as Tompolo, says Ibe Kachikwu, minister of state for petroleum resources, can attest to the fact that he does not need pipeline surveillance contract.

The government of former President Goodluck Jonathan awarded pipeline contracts to Tompolo, who is currently being wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The former commander of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has blamed his opponents for his trial.

He distanced himself from the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), a new militant group, saying Ayiri Emami, Warri-based billionaire, has been making false accusations against him.

“I am greatly touched and disappointed with the manner the Nigerian government and the military are being arm-twisted by the unfounded claims of Ayiri Emami and others, that I am behind the Niger Delta Avengers group, when there is no single proof to back the claim,” he said in a statement issued on his behalf by Paul Bebenibo, his spokesman.

“May I once again point it out that Ayiri Emami and others accusing me of the destruction of oil facilities in part of the Delta are simply looking for relevance, recognition and pipeline surveillance contracts. If anyone doubts what I am saying, such should find out from the GMD and minister for state for petroleum, because Ayiri and his likes have been troubling the minister for pipeline surveillance contracts for some time now.

“The minister has even succumbed to the Ayiri Emami gimmick by appointing some of his cronies as special advisers. The funny thing about Ayiri Emami is that he does not even have the capacity and goodwill to protect oil facilities.

“It would be recalled that when I had the one year pipeline surveillance contract in Delta state, Ayiri Emami was one of the directors of the company (Oil Facility Surveillance Limited) in 2012. He could not protect the oil facilities in his beat, and so I was the one that was equally doing his job.

“It is on record and the authorities of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) can bear me witness that even those in Bayelsa (Pajeros Nigeria Limited) and Rivers (Adef Energy Resoures Nigeria Limited) that had similar surveillance jobs like me, could not protect the oil facilities in their respective states.”

Tompolo expressed concerns over the siege which the military has laid to his community, and his inability to move freely.

“I am disappointed and displeased with the federal government and the Nigerian military on the continuous siege on me and Gbaramatu communities under the guise of looking for members of the nascent Niger Delta Avengers,” the statement read.

“It baffles me that the Nigerian military has refused to believe me that I am not part of the group and its activities as contained in several media statements. I am obviously a victim of circumstance in this matter because of my case with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). How can I resort to destruction of oil facilities because of those trumped-up charges against me by the EFCC, when my lawyers are already challenging the faulty process of legal service on me? If not for the common insinuation that the Nigerian Judiciary is on trial, why would my case with the EFCC become the greatest issue in Nigeria today, when there are so many important things to talk about?”