A former militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo, also known as Tompolo yesterday in an open letter to the President, Muhammadu Buhari, pleaded with the President not to judge him based on the malicious lies that have been told against him.
The open letter was made available to news agency Vanguard. In his letter, he claimed that there was a plot to demonise him and affect the way the Niger-Delta is perceived in the public eye.
He cried out against the mental torture such false assertions have caused him. He also stated that the ethno-political merchants were laying a foundation for crisis in the Niger-Delta region.
Excerpts of his letter read: “I make bold to say that there are several APC elements within and around your government who see anything Ijaw as criminal and anti-Buhari.
Unpretentiously too, certain non-Ijaw ethnic merchants cum bigots have expressly displayed open hatred for Ijaws in the Niger Delta region.”
“Such persons have almost succeeded in warping a governmental mindset against Ijaws, whether in or outside your government.
Please, Mr President, this very dangerous dimension is avoidable by your government.
“They will be happy to see a ravaged Gbaramatu Kingdom and by extension, Ijaw land under the pretext of looking for me. This is a very dangerous template such persons are laying and it is only good for Mr President to deploy the inner mind to stratify this unwholesome gimmick,” he stated.
He also wrote on his support for former President Goodluck Jonathan, which he said was only natural and had nothing personal attached.
“Just as your people supported you as of right, throughout the presidential campaigns, I do not think it was criminal for me to openly support one of my own, Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for the presidency in 2015.
“I did so out of conviction not because I hate you or because you are a northerner.” “After all, most of my personal friends and acquaintances are from the north. To cap it all, the memories of my robust relationship with your Katsina brother, the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua are still painfully fresh and reminiscent of brotherliness,” he said.