Leader of the defunct Movement for the Emancipation of
the Niger-Delta, MEND and High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, aka Tompolo,
yesterday, summoned commanders and leaders of the various wings of the militant
group to an emergency meeting, tomorrow in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
He did not state agenda of the meeting, but Tompolo, who is
the Ibe-Ebidouwei of Ijaw nation, in the invitation, said the meeting, which
will hold at Izon House, Yenagoa, was important.
His words, “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.”
According to a source,
“The place of the Niger Delta in the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari
and appraisal of the former President Goodluck Jonathan government in view of
the current happenings in the country will be tabled for discussion at the
meeting. The meeting is restricted only to those invited, it is not an all
comers meeting, we will make our position known after the meeting.”
Tompolo and other ex-militant leaders officially disbanded
MEND after they accepted amnesty offered them by the administration of former
President Umaru Yar’Adua in 2009.
But, a faction of MEND, which did not accept amnesty continued to operate the militant group and stated their disapproval of Jonathan government, but it was obvious that the moving forces behind the group had abandoned it.
But, a faction of MEND, which did not accept amnesty continued to operate the militant group and stated their disapproval of Jonathan government, but it was obvious that the moving forces behind the group had abandoned it.
Tomorrow’s meeting is the first time all the former
commanders and leaders of the militant group are meeting formally since it was
disbanded in 2009.
