Former Niger Delta militant leader, Chief Government Ekpomukpolo alias Tompolo, and other Ijaw youth leaders have warned President Goodluck Jonathan to stay away from the groundbreaking ceremony of the $16 billion export processing zone project scheduled for Friday at Ogidigbenm Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State.
Ekpomukoplo and his kinsmen issued the warning on Wednesday at Oporoza, his country home, where they addressed a world press conference to express their protest against the naming of the project after Ogidigben, an Itsekiri community.
They threatened to resort to self-help if steps were not taken to rectify the anomalies with the naming of the project.
At the venue of the press conference, angry Ijaw youths, with white head scarves, drove a convoy of speed boats recklessly to show their naval prowess.
Some of the placards they carried read, ‘Gbaramatu may resort to self help.’ ‘EPZ Escravos, Gbaramatu youths says no,’ ‘Inaugurate Gbaramatu Kingdom EPZ Interface Committee,’ ‘we welcome EPZ project but call for fairness,’ ‘Don’t mistake our peaceful disposition to weakness’ and ‘Gbaramatu Kingdom says no to the naming of EPZ after Ogidigben.’
At the press conference, Ekpomukpolo said the Ijaw want President Jonathan to stay off the ceremony until their demands were met.
Chief Godspower Gbenekama, who read the address of Gbaramatu Traditional Council of Chiefs, said they were drawing the attention of the Presidency and the world to the injustice and unfair deal being meted out on the Ijaw people of Gbaramatu Kingdom on the on-going EPZ project.
He called on the Federal Government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to address their demands to avert another bloody crisis in the area.
He noted that the Ijaw, had through formal means, made their grievances known to the various organs of government.
source: nigerianeye
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