Odahiekwu Ogunde, Yenagoa
Mr Bello Bina, a close ally of foremost ex-Niger Delta militant leader, Chief Government Ekpemukpolo, popularly known as Tompolo, has debunked the claims that Tompolo’s reappearance six years after being declared wanted by the Federal Government is a new plot to launch an attack against President Muhammadu Buhari and the Niger Delta.Bina, a former Caretaker Committee Chairman of Brass Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, said Tompolo’s appearance in a viral video six years after was to thank God for his mercies in his life and not to launch an attack against anybody, including the Federal Government and the region.In a statement on Sunday, he responded to the alleged plot by some politicians and ex-militant leaders to provoke a new confrontation between Tompolo and the Federal Government, saying the plot against Tompolo was a wicked attempt by some persons to extort the Federal Government of money and political benefits.He said, “People who want to blackmail the Federal Government for money and political positions are the ones behind the claims. “We know them and we will mention their names at the appropriate time. They wake up and drop Tompolo’s name. They claim Tompolo did this or that. They have started again to drop the name of Tompolo.”Bina, who commended the Federal Government for dropping the charges against Tompolo, said the appearance of Tompolo in a viral video was a celebration of the gesture of the President and the benevolence of the Almighty God. He noted, ”Some politicians and ex-militants are trying to use that to curry favour from the government. Tompolo is innocent and just came back and finding a way forward.“Tompolo is not planning to fight the Federal Government or anybody. He is not threatening any multinational company. He is quiet and minding his business. May I tell President Muhammadu Buhari that Tompolo is not the problem of the Niger Delta. The President should see beyond Tompolo. If the Federal Government wants to make amends, they should focus on the development of the region. The region has been grossly neglected. We that produce the crude oil have been neglected. We have been under the recent flood and the Federal Government is not responding.
“When the Federal Government asked the oil multinationals to relocate to the Niger Delta, no one sees anything wrong in their disobedience of Federal Government’s order. It shows they hate the Niger Delta and her people. If you hate the region and her people, it means you should also hate the resources in the area. “Some other states are mining and selling their gold and the Niger Delta is not allowed to sell their oil. And we have not said anything but people outside the region are fighting each other over our resources.”On the recent #EndSARS protest and violence in Lagos and other parts of the country, Bina said there was the need to halt the ongoing carnage in some parts of the country and restore peace. He said: ”I blame the issue of poor leadership by the Federal Government for the crisis. The Federal Government failed the people but peace has no price and it must be restored.”He urged Buhari to listen and attend to the issues raised by the #EndSARS protesters, saying ”the President should look beyond politics. He should see beyond the carnage being carried out and find solutions to the problems identified by the protesters. The contentious issues are beyond trademoni or marketmoni.”He commiserated with family of those who lost their lives in the protests and violence but also called on the protesters to shun violence and stop the wanton destruction and burning of security and private infrastructures, predicting that the destruction might turn around to haunt the society in future.