By Our Correspondent
A Niger Delta youth leader, Comrade Sheriff Mulade, has advised the federal government to tread softly on the ‘’thorny’’ issue involving High Chief Government Ekpemupolo alias Tompolo so as not to return the oil rich Niger Delta to the dark days of militancy.
He said they are many loyalists of the former warlords in the region who are ready to resort to violence or destroy oil facilities as it is being witnessed now because of the issue he is having with the anti-graft agency, Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).According to him, the alleged ‘’persecution’’ of the former MEND leader was an act of provocation, raising the alarm that the factor that stoke up militancy in the region was gradually resurfacing under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
He advised politicians to be guarded by their utterances and not use his saga to settle personal score, stating that it has become ‘’so obvious that the aim is fighting Tompolo personally because attack on him is seen by the people of the region as attack on the Niger Delta’’.
He condemned the current wave of attacks on pipelines, saying that ‘’whoever is responsible for such destruction should be arrested and prosecuted’’.
‘’The Niger Delta is no longer using violence means as a way to agitate for development. We should now be talking about strategic advocacy, peace dialogue and reaching out to others’’, he added.
He advised government to beef up security on the waterways, advocating for the adoption of community policing strategy to secure government facilities, adding that ‘’those in charge should be made culpable in case of any act of sabotage’’.
Besides, he urged the government to create jobs for the teeming youths roaming the streets even as he implored President Buhari to implement the Master Plan of Niger Delta Development Commission to fast track the development of the region.
He said: ‘’Government should not create loopholes for more dangerous militants whose Tompolo’s presence is suppressing to take advantage of his issue with the government to cause more havoc in the region.
‘’Tompolo should not be seen as a threat to the federal government, rather the federal government should address the fundamental issues in the region, especially environmental remediation, implementation of UNEP report on Ogoni land, insecurity, resource control and management’’.
