IYC Warns Buhari Over Tompolo’s Prosecution

Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) kinsmen of a former rebel leader,
Government Ekpemupolo popularly known as Tompolo has warned the federal
government led by President Muhammadu Buhari against conducting a witch-hunt
after Tompolo was charged with theft and money laundering.

A federal high court in Lagos last week ordered the arrest
of Tompolo on accusations that he stole more than $175 million (161 million
euros) between 2012 and last year.

The ex-militant, is one of the most high-profile former
militant leaders of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta
(MEND).

The group attacked oil and gas facilities in the 2000s as
part of a campaign to secure a fairer share of crude revenue for the delta
region until a government amnesty was introduced in 2009.

But the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) said the prosecution of
Tompolo as part of Buhari’s wider anti-corruption drive was singling out their
ethnic group.

“Our position is that due process should be followed. We
support an anti-corruption war that is done within the ambit of the law,” IYC
spokesman Eric Omare told AFP.

“We seriously oppose selective prosecution and political
victimisation.”

A number of leading figures in the main opposition Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) of former president Goodluck Jonathan have been arrested
and charged with graft in recent months.

The PDP has accused Buhari and his ruling All Progressives
Congress (APC) of settling political scores, potentially stoking tensions in a
country where violence flares easily.

Since Jonathan is also an Ijaw, Buhari — already dealing
with the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast — has to tread a fine line to
avoid a fresh flare-up of unrest in the volatile delta region.

– Tribal witch-hunt? –

Indications of rising tensions there have already emerged.
Supporters of Tompolo are widely believed to have sabotaged oil and gas
pipelines in Delta state last weekend after he was charged.

The IYC said it condemned such vandalism but also claimed
that the military had invaded several Ijaw communities in Delta state,
destroying properties and causing injuries.

“The Ijaw people are not at war with the federal government.
We call on the military to exercise restraint in their actions. There is no
basis to attack innocent villagers,” said Omare.

Another former militant leader, Ramsey Mukoro, added: “None
of us is happy with what is happening to Tompolo and other Ijaw people who
served under Jonathan. It is a tribal witch-hunt.”

Many former rebels, including Tompolo, went on to secure
lucrative government contracts protecting oil and gas pipelines and facilities
after the amnesty was introduced.

The charges against him relate to his work with the Nigerian
Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), whose remit includes
maritime security.

Alagoa Morris, from the Odenwari community in the Southern
Ijaw region of Bayelsa state, said that prosecuting Tompolo and others could
“influence people to disobey lawful orders”.

Ebi Hitler, an Ijaw resident in the Bayelsa state capital
Yenagoa, also warned of a return to insecurity, which severely dented Nigeria’s
crude output at the height of the troubles.

“What is currently going on is not prosection but
persecution of Ijaws. It is very provocative and the government should realise
that there is a limit to everything,” he added.

Source