Former Niger Delta militant, Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, has accused President Muhammadu Buhari, the All Progressives Congress and the military of being behind the amputation of the leg of his father, Chief Thompson Ekpemupolo.
Tompolo, in a letter to Buhari, obtained by The Eagle Online, said his father’s leg had to be amputated following an encounter he had with soldiers who invaded Kurutie, Warri South West Local Government Area in May 2016.
He said this was unfortunate because President Buhari was acting from a position of ignorance concerning the situation in the Niger Delta.
He said Buhari and his party, the APC, were only interested in the region’s oil and not the wellbeing of its people.
In the open letter to Buhari, Tompolo 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 what led to the amputation of his father’s leg, Tompolo wrote: “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 equally questioned the basis for his declaration as a persona non grata by the Nigerian State.
He wrote: “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.”
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