The former militant leader and commander of the disbanded Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, has received a re-award from the federal government for a multibillion-naira pipeline surveillance contract.
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The group claims that Ekpemupolo is qualified for the position that the Federal Government has rehired him for through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited because he has the necessary expertise and skills.
In Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, the IYC’s national spokesman, Ebilade Ekerefe, briefed reporters on the council’s position and praised the government’s choice.
The former MEND leader, he claimed, deserved the contract because of the good work he had previously done, and the action would go a long way toward reducing illicit oil bunkering, pipeline sabotage, and other types of oil theft in the Niger Delta.
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According to Ekerefe, “The IYC and other stakeholders are willing to cooperate with and support High Chief Government Ekpemupolo to ensure that this hydra-headed monster is reduced to its barest minimum.”
He emphasized how the threats of pipeline breaches and illegal oil refining had severely damaged local residents’ means of subsistence and caused a sharp decline in the nation’s oil export earnings.
According to Ekerefe, the council has long argued that installing a surveillance system under the control of locals who are familiar with the area’s geography is one of the best ways to effectively combat the siphoning of crude oil from pipelines.
Ekerefe further said, “We want to commend the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, under the leadership of Mele Kyari, the Federal Government, for its wisdom in awarding the pipeline surveillance contract to a foremost former Niger Delta freedom fighter, High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, who is also known as Tompolo.”
“Declaring the award is a sign of good faith and it is a step in the right direction in keeping surveillance on the pipelines in the region to avoid the unnecessary and incessant damages that are caused by oil bunkers.”
“We believe that High Chief Government Ekpemupolo has contributed tremendously to the peace and stability we are currently enjoying in this region when other regions are having serious security challenges. Engaging him to work with other stakeholders and youths from this region will stem the tide of illegal bunkering, which we all frown upon.”
The top Ijaw youth organization warned that oil theft had caused Nigeria’s overall oil production output to drop dangerously below 1.4 million barrels, noting that this had an impact on the country’s production quota and significantly decreased oil revenue.
However, the group encouraged the Federal Government to make sure that the extra money that would come from the country’s higher oil production quota due to Tompolo’s renewed pipeline protection contract was used to fix the Niger Delta’s infrastructure shortage.
