The Arraignment of a Militant Chief in Absentia

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The Arraignment of a Militant Chief in Absentia

By Correspondent

To his very serious supporters, the arraignment in Absentia of the prominent militant chief, Government Ekpemupolo (aka Tompolo), on Tuesday, March 22, 2016, must have come to them as a rude shock. The reason may not be far-fetched. It is believed in some quarters that Tompolo remains one Nigerian that cannot be easily touched by anybody in view of his closeness to the immediate past government of President Goodluck Jonathan. Tompolo was docked by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) before Justice Ibrahim Buba of a Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos. Tompolo was also arraigned in absentia over an allegation of fraud to the tune of N34 billion. He was dragged before the judge alongside the former Director-General (DG) of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Patrick Akpobolokemi; Global West Vessel Specialist Limited, Odimiri Electricals Limited and Kemi Engozu. Others are Boloboere Property and Estate Limited, Rex Elem, Destre Consult Limited, Gregory Mbonu and Captain Warredi Enisuoh. According to a 40-count charge before the court, the commission maintained that Tompolo, together with others allegedly diverted N34 billion for personal use. It was also the contention of the anti-graft agency, that the said sum arose from the public-private partnership agreement between NIMASA and Global West Vessel Specialist, said to be owned by Tompolo. The offence, in the argument of the EFCC, is in contravention of Section 15 (1) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act 2012 and punishable under Section 15 (3) of the same Act. Prior to this time, the anti-graft agency had declared Tompolo wanted through an advertorial signed by its Head of Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, sequel to the bench warrants declared against him by Justice Buba. Tompolo was described by the advertorial as a 47-year-old, dark-complexioned man from Okerenkoko, the Gbaramotu Kingdom in the Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State. The wanted militant chief whose address was given as No. 1, Chief Agbanu Street, DDPA Extension, Warri, Delta State, is said to speak both Izon and English languages. The advertorial reads, “The general public is hereby notified that Government Ekpemupolo (a.k.a. Tompolo), whose photograph appears above, is wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in relation to the offence of conspiracy, illegal diversion of the sum of N34,000,000,000.00 and N11,900,000,000.00 belonging to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency.” The Federal High Court had ordered the arrest of Tompolo on January 14 after he shunned a summons dated January 12issued on him by the judge to appear in connection with the fraud charges filed against him and nine others by the EFCC. The judge even went further to direct law enforcement operatives to make available Tompolo before him on February 8 so as to proffer answer to the charges. Instead of showing up as directed by Justice Buba, the former militant chief brought an application seeking to quash the bench warrant and arrest order. But the court threw out the application on the reason that it was lacking in merit and further renewed the warrant of arrest with a directive that all law enforcement agencies should produce him on February 19.

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