But on the sidelines of the visit, multiple
community sources told THISDAY that the 10
“suspects” picked up by the military on Saturday
and paraded a day later, were workers in the
guesthouse and the king’s palace who were
unfortunate to be in the area at the wrong time.
The Commander of the 4 Brigade, Benin,
Brigadier General Farouk Yahaya, had told
journalists on Sunday, while parading the
suspects that the army recovered 28 detonator
cords, two pistols, 196 rounds of 7.62 special
ammunition, one round of nine millimetre
ammunition, a live cartridge and five daggers
from the suspects.
Other items found in the area, he said, were 15
handheld radio sets, 18 phones, 203 SIM cards,
five swimsuits, two headlamps, a laptop, two
iPads and a camera.
Yahaya insisted that the youths who were
arrested during the operation were linked to
several cases of bombing of oil and gas facilities in
the region, alleging that “they were most likely
the people breaching critical national assets in
the region”.
During a guided tour of the community, only a
couple of aged women were seen peeping from
their hideouts when they saw the heavily armed
soldiers in the community.
In Tompolo’s guesthouse, which served as his
temporary residence before he was declared
wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC), a company of soldiers
numbering over 60 had taken over the white-
coloured building at the time THISDAY got there.
The current operation going on in the area in
search of the Niger Delta Avengers, which has
claimed responsibility for recent attacks on oil and
gas facilities, and ostensibly to recover dangerous
weapons, THISDAY gathered, was led by a captain
from the 3 Battalion, Effurun Barracks of the
Nigerian Army in Delta State.
Once a beehive of transport-related activities, the
waterways leading from Warri, through Egwa II,
the oil facility earlier bombed by the militants in
Kurutie, where Tompolo’s father hails from and
down to Oporoza in Gbaramatu was a ghost of its
former self as many residents had reportedly fled
into the bush.
A number of warships, it was observed, had also
been deployed in the route leading directly to the
ex-militant’s home and the palace, though
soldiers did not directly lay siege to the palace
which was first bombed in 2009 after some
soldiers were reportedly attacked by the militants
at the time.

‘FG Seriously Worried’
But as the military laid siege to Gbaramatu, Gen.
Boroh, true to his promise to temporarily move his
office to the Niger Delta region in order to engage
the leaders on how to halt the destruction of oil
facilities, told the distressed monarch during the
meeting that the army would not willingly inflict
pain on innocent citizens.
“I am from the (presidential) villa in Abuja. I am
here basically on a peace mission, sent by the
federal government. It’s important enough, that’s
why they asked me to come.
“The activities happening in this our area now is
affecting the economy of the country, they are
affecting our land, it’s affecting all of us and the
government is very concerned about it. That’s
why they sent me.
“We cherish peace and unity. The presence here
of the military is to create peace. They didn’t
come to molest anybody. They came to ensure
stability.
“I also have a military background, so when an
order of this nature is given, it only acts as a
deterrence to ensure that there is peace and
people are not afraid of the army’s presence.
“I have come so that there will be stability, not
only here, but in the whole region. The soldiers
are on a cordon-and-search operation. They have
information about some weapons. The military
didn’t come to beat up people. They are
searching for weapons, which shouldn’t be in the
hands of some people.
“I have seen the documentation. They are not
here to molest anybody,” Boroh explained to the
traditional ruler while also querying why there
was a resurgence of militancy in Gbaramatu.
Before the traditional ruler and the amnesty boss
went into a private meeting, Boroh, who had
listened to his complaints, assured him that
President Muhammadu Buhari was committed to
restoring peace to the region and ensuring rapid
development.
“The good thing is that His Royal Highness is
committed. These are the things that the
government wants to hear to encourage it. (They
want to know) that the kingdom is not an enemy
to the government and that it supports the
government and is able to key into governments
programmes and policies.
“The government’s commitment to the Niger
Delta is enduring. In a few days’ time, on
Thursday, to be precise, the president will be in
Ogoniland to flag off the clean-up of the entire
Niger Delta, starting from Ogoni.
“When they finish in Rivers State, they will come
to Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and Ondo States. The
president has good intentions for our people.
“You have to key in and deliberately show that
truly you support development. This thing is
affecting development. People who want to come
and invest cannot even come in,” Boroh stressed.
He also conveyed the concerns of the federal
government over the onslaught on oil facilities,
noting that the country was unhappy about the
events of recent months.

Monarch: I’m under House Arrest
Responding, the traditional ruler of Gbaramatu
said that he was under house arrest and had
neither taken his bath nor moved out of the
palace for days.
“I am in pain as the king and father of this
kingdom. We have not been sleeping. This is the
third time the military has invaded this
community.
“The third time, they came in the midnight with
bundles of soldiers to invade the community, beat
up and harass the people. Some women are still
looking for their children as we speak.
“I was sitting here and I saw how the military
men have been parading my children – tied them
like animals and beat them up. In fact, I was
touched.
“It’s just now that you came that the soldiers
allowed us to switch on our light. I can’t even
move out of this place. I am under house arrest. I
can’t even walk to my injured chief to see him.
“All the chiefs in this community have run away.
There’s no single chief in this place. I am lonely
here. Before now, we were in pain, but this latest
one has topped it.
“If you want to beat up a child, you look at the
father’s face. In my presence, they were beating
up my children. They have taken over my
kingdom, shooting everywhere.
“I have called them, but they won’t even come. I
have been working with the government, but I
don’t know why the government is treating me
this way.
“You don’t have to judge a whole clan by sitting
in Abuja or Lagos. Come down and see, but they
are judging us from Abuja and Lagos. They
continue to embarrass us,” the monarch said.
He added that he was afraid and felt threatened:
“I don’t know where my people are. They have
looted the guesthouse. They have invaded
everywhere and barricaded everywhere. I am not
safe.”
He pleaded with the government to come to his
rescue, insisting that the people of Gbaramatu
were not members of the Niger Delta Avengers.
“We are not avengers, we are not militants, and
we are not part of them. The government
shouldn’t push us away,” he said.
Suspects are Palace Workers
But just as the battle rages for the soul of the
Niger Delta, some eyewitnesses who saw the
arrest of the 10 “suspects”, have revealed that
just like the five Chevron contract workers who
were found innocent and released, those who
were picked up last Saturday were just workers in
the area.
A community source, who identified himself as
Nadi Mogbeyi, told THISDAY that though they
were against any criminality in the area, the so-
called suspects were residents struggling to make
ends meet in the community.
“They caught so many people. I was in hiding,
watching them as they were picking people up.
They arrested one Moses Andrew, a mechanic
that was invited from Warri to come and fix a
Dana vehicle here; one cook, called Philip, he is a
cook in the guesthouse; he was tortured from
morning. They were forcing him to confess what
he doesn’t know.
“They tied them with just his underwear on. I
heard them shouting ‘I don die’. They went into
the shrine, came out and took them away in
some boats.
“The mechanic we brought to fix the car because
of the construction work going on here, he came
on Friday evening. He didn’t know what
happened. They invaded the place and picked
him up.
“Our generating set went off because the diesel
was exhausted. They took the mechanic to the
plant that supplies light to the palace. They
forced him to switch on the plant and then tied
him back when he finished before taking him
away.
“They also arrested Orumina Odiki, a security man
in the guesthouse, then Ebierieri, who sews and
designs the king’s clothes. Those were the ones I
know,” he said.
Also, Alpheus Okpekperere, a youth in the
community, stated that the entire area was now a
ghost town, following the invasion of the place by
the military.
“The whole place is deserted. They came around
2 am on Saturday. We haven’t taken our bath.
The water suppliers have disappeared. We can’t
make calls. Everybody is stranded.
“Life is very difficult. We are being held hostage.
We don’t have access to anything, not even
water. The workers are all in the bush. Children
cannot even go to school,” he told THISDAY.

modath:

How come the article and the heading have no relationship?

modath:


How come the article and the heading have no relationship?

IsraeliAIRFORCE:



Is the reply button and comment box running away? Why not finish the reading before this comment? I believe when you do, you will substitute the "IN" with "FROM"

madridguy:
The jungle is getting matured now, I think we can now differentiate boys from men. We told them but they wouldn't listen, we advise them not to give room for Army invasion but they called us cowards. From experience so far, Army don't understand what human right means, even the US army cannot be exempted.

I urge the good people of Gbaramatu to form alliance with the Nigeria Army to smoke out the evil among them cos Nigeria Army will not leave your region till peace and order is fully restored.

God Bless Nigeria.

IsraeliAIRFORCE:


Why not finish the reading before this comment?

Is comment box running away?

madridguy:
The jungle is getting matured now, I think we can now differentiate boys from men. We told them but they wouldn't listen, we advise them not to give room for Army invasion but they called us cowards. From experience so far, Army don't understand what human right means, even the US army cannot be exempted.

I urge the good people of Gbaramatu to form alliance with the Nigeria Army to smoke out the evil among them cos Nigeria Army will not leave your region till peace and order is fully restored.

God Bless Nigeria.

nnachukz:
It was expected. Logically the Avengers can not be picked easily like that since Tompolo for many months has not even been sighted by our Army let alone arresting him. The funny thing in my country is that when you are wrongly picked many lies will be heaped on your head. Lies like, we recovered explosives, guns, charms from him, we arrested him after a fierce gun duel. When the truth is that you were in your house sleeping with nothing on you when they broke in and picked you up.

CharleyCharley:
FireFire, I hope you eat your words. #spits

cktheluckyman:


you will continue ranting till the oil output goes below 500,000bpd!!this si not the first time we are going through this road so please spare us your admonitions!!!

Firefire:


Which of my word?

Was it the one requiring you to produce their students ID cards ?

Now reconcile your statements.

Students vs. Palace workers vs. 14 year old..

Now tell the world the correlation coefficient of your earlier assertions.

Thank you.

idensko:
I used to respect NA but mehn, dis APC government has completely rubbished dis guyns image.

D Nigeria populace used to love nd cherish our gallant soldiers but it seems d Police has a better image now.

How did Nigeria Army demolish all d image dey built 4 demselsves?

I remember Monrovia when NIgeria Army Arrived international Airport surrounded by rebels. It took few 4 Nigeria soldiers to clear hundreds of rebels in d Airport, and smuggle Charles Taylor out of Libya.


The last ten years has not been Gud 2 NA.


I THINK dey should be best described as SKIRT & BLOUSE soldiers now.

Dey re completely fu..k.d.

Firefire:


Which of my word?

Was it the one requiring you to produce their students ID cards ?

Now reconcile your statements.

Students vs. Palace workers vs. 14 year old.

Now tell the world the correlation coefficient of your earlier assertions.

Thank you.

Even when a renowned Gbaramatu Monarch has vouched for them, you're still requesting for id cards??

I admire your past work on here, but truth must be said;

You're slowly becoming a zombie

modath:


I have, I read it on the website even before it made it here:

This is a screenshot, compare to "edited" version by the sucky Gani... and where did the "unfortunate" to be in the area come from?

Have you ever seen criminals ever willingly accede? They will cling to their "innocence" to the very end..

CharleyCharley:






Even when a [b]renowned Gbaramatu Monarch has vouched for them, you're still requesting for id cards??

I admire your past work on here, but truth must be said;

You're slowly becoming a zombie [/b]

CharleyCharley:






Even when a renowned Gbaramatu Monarch has vouched for them, you're still requesting for id cards??

I admire your past work on here, but truth must be said;

You're slowly becoming a zombie

modath:

How come the slant of the article (from where it was lifted) and the heading have no relationship?

The fallout of harbouring criminals is that the innocent may likely be caught in the crossfire.

NDA, (since we know una agents dey NL) let's agree the paraded aren't your foot soldiers, why did so called warriors not stay to "defend" the people you are claiming you want to liberate? Feeble minded cowards using civilians as shield...

Firefire:


Bros,

You are missing the point, am on transit I would have posted our last conversations.

You or the poster claimed the arrested persons were students, I refused to agree because their look disprove that; now you guys turnaround to claim they are now Palace workers no longer 14-year old students.

Please note that my opinions expressed on this forum is no respecter of any person, tribe, religion or race. I am proudly a Nigerian but will voice against any inequality & injustice without fear or favor.

God bless Nigeria.

Btw: you are free to call me anything, it's a FREE WORLD.

Shalom!