Born again businessman, Chief Government Ekpemupolo (aka Tompolo), has called for a meeting of leaders and commanders of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).
The meeting, slated for Saturday, July 25 at Izon House in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, has put the nation’s security forces on high alert.
An invitation to the meeting reads: “My dearly beloved Commanders and Leaders of various wings of the Movement of the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), I greet you all.
“It is my pleasure to humbly invite you to a very crucial and urgent meeting as follows:
“Venue: Izon House, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
“Date (of the meeting is) Saturday, July 25th, 2015. Time (is) 2pm Prompt.”
It was signed by Tompolo using his traditional title – Izon Ibe-Ebidouwei of Izon nation.
High on the agenda of the strictly by invitation meeting are recent developments in Nigeria as well as the fate of the Niger Delta under President Muhammadu Buhari.
Tompolo (44), a known supporter of former President Goodluck Jonathan, was the founder of the militant group that crippled oil production in the region from 2005.
He was granted full amnesty by the Federal Government under the late President Umaru Yar’Adua on June 27, 2009.
His fortunes improved tremendously under the Jonathan administration with his Global West Vessel Service handling security for the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
The company also bought a fleet of a decommissioned naval battleships and combats boats from Norway in what former NIMASA Director General, Patrick Ziakede Akpobolokemi, described as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement in conjunction with the Nigerian Navy.
Akpobolokemi was sacked as NIMASA boss last week.
