While Tompolo alongside other MEND leaders namely Victor Ben Ebikabowei (Boyloaf), Paul Eris (Ogunboss), Africanus Ukparasia, Joshua Maciver, General Reuben, Young Shall Grow, Shoot at Sight were beneficiaries of the surveillance contract awarded by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2012 to cover Bayelsa, Delta and Ondo States, Asari- Dokubo who was not part of MEND was given the surveillance contract with Farah Dagogo and Tom Ateke for that of Rivers State.
On assumption of office in 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari had cancelled the contract and re-awarded it to Ocean Marine Company owned by late Captain Hosa Okunbor.
The government also launched an offensive against Tompolo as he became a hunted man by the Federal Government, with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) unleashed on him culminating in the invasion of his residence at Gbaramatu, Delta State. The development forced him into hiding.
However now that election is fast approaching with the APC government seeking support from key Niger Delta stakeholders, the award of the contract has calmed frayed nerves such that commendation of the APC government had trailed the announcement of the contract.
A source who attended a meeting hosted at Oporoza by Tompolo, said the businessman’s body language indicated that the people should support the APC government. According to the source, the decision to pick Joshua MacIver to anchor the contract in other parts of Bayelsa, aside Nembe and Brass is indication that Maciver has been recruited into the APC project.
“At the meeting he held at Oporoza, which had in attendance, ex-agitators, youth groups and other stakeholders, Tompolo made it clear that the contract is a collective one to put an end to illegal oil bunkering and crude oil theft. He also stated that it is the APC government that has brought the contract, and so everybody should work for the government to succeed. The choice of Joshua Maciver to anchor part of Bayelsa is also instructive. Maciver from Southern Ijaw had parted ways with the APC and defected to PDP. But with this contract, he is going to work for the success of the APC.”
Other beneficiaries of the contract is a company linked to Olu of Warri, Ocean Marine company given the pipeline surveillance from Bonny to Akwa- Ibom, while Labrador Security outfit which got the contract for Nembe/ Brass areas in Bayelsa State is owned by Chief Kojo Sam, aka General Kojo, a staunch member of the APC.
The award of contract to Labrador has boosted the image of the APC in Nembe and Brass as Kojo has virtually met all the key traditional rulers in the areas and has held several meetings to intimate them about the contract.
Another ex-militant leader, Pastor Rueben who is the brain behind the South- South group, Pastor Rueben Initiative for Good Leadership and Accountability, is mobilizing support for APC Presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu across South- South states. He said he does not understand the fuss about the contract given to Tompolo, noting that when the same was given to late Capt Okunbor who did not involve anybody, people were silent. He regretted that some were complaining now that Tompolo has made it clear that he is working with everybody.
He said Tompolo is not a member of any political party, adding that the contract given by the APC-led government has gained support among the people in the Niger Delta.
“The same contract given to Tompolo was given to late Capt Okunbor who did not call or hold meetings with anybody. The Olu of Warri also got the contract for Bonny to Akwa-Ibom and nobody has been called. But the one given to a gentle and compassionate man, Tompolo, is causing reactions. This is a man that has called stakeholders for a meeting to intimate them about the contract. These are the kinds of things APC needs to win elections. The contract has given it more support,” he said.
Further investigations revealed that while Maciver, General Reuben, Young Shall Grow, Shoot at Sight are at home with Tompolo over the contract, Ogunboss and Boyloaf have made no comment on the contract.
Ogunboss who has denounced the APC is said to have kept mute over the contract and has remained aloof because of its political dimension.
“Ogunboss has parted company with APC because of lack of political patronage from the Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva. He has since been part of the PDP government. Now that the government has awarded a contract he used to be part of to Tompolo, he is staying away,” a source said.
Meanwhile a group, the Ijaw Patriotic League (IPL) has declared support for the Federal Government not to revoke the oil pipeline awarded to Tompolo.
The national coordinator of the IPL, Jasper Eritei described the decision of the Federal Government to engage Tompolo to assist it in securing the nation’s outrageously violated pipelines is well thought out and in the public good.
According to him the condemnation and protests that have followed the award of the contract to Tompolo should alert the Federal Government and indeed the NNPC that the right decision has been made to prevent oil theft in the Niger Delta.
