Arresting Tompolo will be counter-productive - Gbaramatu youths

Youths from Gbaramtu king­dom in Warri, Delta State, have called on the Federal Govern­ment to discard any idea aimed at arresting and subsequently disgracing the embattled former mil­itant leader of the defunct Movement for the Eman­cipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Chief Govern­ment Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo saying it would be counter-productive.

A frontline Niger Delta youth leader, Arc. Azaiye Piniki, who spoke on be­half of Gbaramatu youths yesterday in Warri, said what their kinsman (Tom­polo) is facing was politi­cally engineered, noting that the resultant effect of the ex-militant’s arrest could destroy the fragile peace in the country.

Piniki observed that the Federal Govern­ment’s decision to ‘per­secute’ their leader for mere political reason is retrogressive and an ill-wind that will not do the country any good.

They also rejected the government’s proposal to scrap the Nigerian Mari­time University project proposed by the Nige­rian Maritime Adminis­tration and Safety Agen­cy, NIMASA saying it was also politically motivated.

Piniki noted that the university would provide jobs for the teeming un­employed Nigerians and further stem the tide of youth restiveness in the riverine communities of the Niger Delta region that has been without any form of tertiary institu­tion.

He said that the can­cellation amounts to de­nying the people of the area their rights to devel­opment, adding that the region is part of Nigeria and produces reasonable income for Nigeria.

“Before the govern­ment will come out with that decision, it is ex­pected that the Minister should have visited the site for on-the-spot as­sessment of the extent of work done and not sit in Abuja and cancel a project of such magnitude, which is capable of making the economy of the area to boom, thereby raising the standard of living in the area.

“So, I’m joining very many other Nigerians to advise the Minister of Transport to urgently re­trieve the statement which I believe might possibly be a slip of tongue and visit the area to see things for himself,” he said.