Group warns against politicizing arms arrest in Delta, accuses Ijaw militants of aggression

By Samuel Ogunsona

A rights group, the Nigerian Ethnic Nations Congress (NENCO), has cautioned against politicizing the arrest of a suspect allegedly linked to illicit arms in Delta State.

In a statement signed by Dr. Irene Ene Bassey, NENCO expressed concern that some Ijaw individuals are attempting to bring politics into the issue instead of allowing the police to conduct their investigation.

According to NENCO, the arrest has the potential to exacerbate existing tensions in the Niger Delta region, particularly between the Itsekiri and Ijaw communities.

The group alleged that the Ijaw community has been building up arms to attack the Itsekiri, citing a long-standing feud between the two groups.

“We see a conscious attempt to create diversion from the real issue, which is that the Ijaw are the aggressors and the chief importers of illicit arms into the Niger Delta,” NENCO stated.

The group accused Government Ekpemupolo, also known as Tompolo, of importing arms into the Niger Delta in large numbers over the past decade.

“For the past 10 years, Government Ekpemupolo Tompolo has been importing arms into the Niger Delta in large numbers. This is known to everyone in the oil-producing communities,” NENCO alleged.

NENCO expressed concern that the activities of Ijaw armed groups in the Niger Delta have spurred fear of conquest among other ethnic groups in the region.

“We are in a situation where the Ijaw boast openly that they would overrun other ethnic groups. Unfortunately, their main militant leader, Mr. Tompolo, is constantly empowered through pipeline contracts,” the group stated.

The group also accused Tompolo’s men of arresting people, creating personal detention camps, and killing people almost daily.

“Tompolo intends to subdue every ethnic group in the Niger Delta through the force of arms,” NENCO alleged.

NENCO urged security operatives to focus on mopping up hundreds of thousands of illegal arms already imported into the Niger Delta by Tompolo and his gang, rather than getting distracted by the arrested British Army official.

The group condemned attempts to blackmail the Olu of Warri, accusing the Ijaw community of trying to present the Itsekiri as aggressors.

“The arrested suspect appears to be a set up designed to blackmail the Itsekiri Nation in preparation for the war of attrition the Ijaws have nursed over the past years,” NENCO stated.

NENCO called on security operatives not to allow the arrest of the suspect to shift their attention from probing Tompolo’s arsenal and arms depots across the Niger Delta.

“Instead of using the arrested British Army official as a focal point, the Nigerian security operatives should concentrate on expansive mop-up of hundreds of thousands of illegal arms already imported to the Niger Delta by Tompolo and his gang,” the group urged.

The statement read in part, “The lack of response to complaints about Tompolo and his desperation to destabilize Nigeria is responsible for the desperate search for self-preservation of many ethnic groups in the Niger Delta.”