Tompolo’s 46th Birthday Celebration Ends In Fiasco As Ijaw Youths Engage In Gun Fight

It was meant to celebrate a dearest one. But yesterday’s 46th birthday lecture of fugitive ex-militant leader Chief Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, ended in a fiasco when two groups of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), engaged each other in a gun fight.

Various Ijaw interest groups and some of Tompolo’s associates planned to honour the former militant leader, who has been in hiding since 2015. Eminent personalities, including, Prof. Godini Darah, were invited to discuss peace in the Niger Delta.

The atmosphere became charged when two leaders of the two factions of the IYC; the Eric Omare camp and the recently inaugurated Peretubo Oweilami camp, met at the event. Omare had been seated with some of his camp’s executive council members before the leaders of the other faction arrived.

The atmosphere turned violent when members of the Omare faction, who identified Oweilami and his entourage, tried to prevent him from accessing the venue in Okuemi Hotels, Warri. This escalated into a scuffle and later the use of weapons, including guns, axes and broken bottles.

The order inside the hall was disrupted when some of the men involved in the fracas entered and started charging at one another. The violence, which had already scared dispersed several guests, who were already seated and following the event, was quelled after about 40 minutes by the law enforcement agents.

Although there were no casualties as at the time of filing this report, many of the escaping guests, including journalists, reported losses of their personal effects; such as mobile phones.

Omare, who said he was not sure the disturbance was occasioned by members of the Ijaw youth body, promised to find out what really happened.

“I don’t have details of what transpired minutes ago, but if they (the invaders) happened to be IYC members, I apologise for that, but I need to confirm if indeed they were IYC members.

“If factional IYC members tried coming in to disrupt an event to honour Tompolo, it is condemnable because they ought to know that Tompolo represents peace and they ought to conduct themselves in an orderly manner.”

Delivering his lecture, titled “Niger Delta Struggle and The Question of Ethnic Identity”, prior to the disturbance, Darah noted that Tompolo would go down in the history of the Niger Delta struggle as a leading emancipator.

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