Creek Generals

Creek Generals June 01, 2009 10:51

Thrown up by a system founded on injustice, these men of blood and bullet hold sway in the treacherous creeks of the Niger Delta, fighting a battle for resource control, but fraught with criminality. By Michael Mukwuzi /Warri & Okafor Ofiebor /Port Harcourt In words and in deeds, Tompolo’s hold on the creeks of the Niger Delta is broad and trenchant. A strong adherent of Egbesu, the traditional Ijaw god of war, Tompolo retreated from Warri City into the inner recess of what is known as the Gbaramatu clan years ago to establish a foothold which would in due course stretch beyond the swampy groove of his Western Ijaw domain. With Egbesu as his military compass, the ethnic warlord was able to build and command an army of militants which attend to him with messianic devotion. Under the Egbesu strictures, the following rules of engagement must be observed: Innocent people should not be killed; when an enemy surrenders, he should not be killed; houses, livestock, farms and fish ponds should not be destroyed, women should not be violated; nobody under the protection of Egbesu should steal from or rob anybody under the protection of Egbesu; no person under the protection of Egbesu should seek the protection of other foreign deities or charm. Obviously in coming out with the strictures, the Ijaw god did not reckon that illegal oil bunkering is an act of stealing. If it did, Tompolo would have no business being an Egbesu faithful for it was in illegal oil bunkering and gun-running that he made his fortune. The flow of petro-dollar and sophisticated weaponry from the sea corridor ensures his position as the militant-in-chief of the Delta State section of the Niger Delta. Under his watch as the Convener of the Ijaw Youth Leadership Forum, IYLF, the umbrella body of the Ijaw youth leaders cum militants, Tompolo provided mentorship and logistic support to all his wards. From the Okerenkoko camp, Tompolo did not only provide Dokubo Asari of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force with field fighters, he also ensured Asari got all the necessary arms and ammunition needed to commence his military campaign in some key oil installations and squelch the threat from Ateke Tom’s Icelander group. Tom’s group were on the verge of overrunning Asari’s Buguma hometown in Rivers State after Okah, his supplier, had failed him. “Tompolo decided on his own volition to give me 50 AK47s which I used to launch the first series of attacks on the stronghold of the Icelanders. All my attacks were successful,” Asari stated. TheNEWS gathered that to ensure smooth passage of the arms, a visibly pregnant woman was contracted to chauffeur the pick-up van which contained the Russianmade assault rifles from Warri to Port Harcourt to beat security checks. Later, Tompolo nestled the formation of the Movement of the Emancipation of Niger Delta, MEND, in 2006 at the now-captured Camp 5, in Okerenkoko, with the primary aim to press for the release of Dokubo Asari and later Gov. Diepreye Alamieyeseigha who were then incarcerated. It was at the Okerenkoko meeting that a decision was taken by the groups to have a name and a platform for the struggle. Hence, MEND was created not as an organisation but as a name for the purpose of issuing unified statements. Henry Okah, who was in South Africa, was appointed e-mailer in his absence for the integrity of our information flow, explained Asari in his prison chronicle titled: Me, Henry Okah, Jomo Gbomo, Judith Asuni and the Niger Delta.

But a disagreement in the modus operandi of the outfit soon led to a split among the MEND elements. Many believe that but for Tompolo’s towering influence, the position of Chief Wellington Okrika, his kinsman, as the Executive Chairman of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC, would have been long erased. To further underline his influence, Tompolo single-handedly ensured the enthronement of Godwin K. Bebenimibo, retired Superitendent of Police, as the Gbaran III, Agadagba, the traditional ruler of Gbaramatu kingdom. Tompolo’ s seeming benevolence was not restricted to assisting his comrades-at-arms. In July 2004, Tompolo assisted the Joint Task Force, JTF, then under the command of Brig.General Elias Zemani to capture John Togo, a notorious sea pirate and his gang, who include names like Perembowe Ebinimie, Felix Dissi and Peter Dolobowei. Until the outbreak of hostilities between his group and the JTF on 13 May, the Delta State government and the JTF had relied extensively on his structures to provide security for the troubled Delta waterways. Unofficial sources said that Tompolo receives close to N100 million every month as settlement to maintain peace in the waterways. Henry Okah, a.k.a Jomo Gbomo Though still in detention where he is facing trial for gun running and treason, Okah, until his arrest in Angola, was the arms supplier-in-chief to the Niger Delta militants. Based in South Africa, Okah coordinated the communication-cum propaganda angle of the MEND agenda via e-mail and text messages to journalists and media houses. Okah’ s idea of allowing MEND participate in bank robberies, kidnapping for ransom and other vices to raise money for the Ijaw struggle caused a major rift in the organisation. The split left him with effective control of a faction of MEND which he used to maximum advantage in unleashing terror in the region.

Okah was also marked a double agent by some Ijaw militants like Asari who accused him of selling arms to the Ijaws as well as their Itsekiri adversaries during the Warri ethnic conflict. Though his incarceration has left him hamstrung, he is believed to enjoy some massive support from some militants who still see him as the authentic leader of the Ijaw struggle. Again, his release is oftentimes put forward as a pre-condition to guarantee final cessation of attacks against pipelines and key oil installations by some militants who still have sympathy for him. Victor Ben Ebika Bowei a.k.a Boy Loaf Until 19 June 2008, Boy Loaf was just one of the militant commanders operating under the cognomen of MEND. But his profile in the underworld of Ijaw militancy would turn 360 degrees when he led and coordinated what remains till date as the most audacious attack on an oil facility in Nigeria. On that day, Boy Loaf, moving in company of 20 fighters travelling on three speed boats, stormed and successfully attacked the Royal Dutch Shell Bonga Field reputed tobe Nigeria’s biggest Floating Production Storage and Offloading, FPSO, vessel and deepwater sub-sea infrastructure. The militants had to traverse 220 kilometres of open sea to achieve a hit on the 60 square kilometre $3.6b facility which has a production capacity of 225,000 barrels of oil per day and a target of increasing Nigeria’ s crude oil production to about four million bpd by 2010. The attack left the Nigerian military wondering how Boy Loaf and his group were able to pull off the attack on a platform located approximately 120 kilometres (75 miles) offshore Nigeria, in water depths of more than 1,000 meters. Boy Loaf advanced reasons for the attack. The number one reason is to let the Federal Government and its security agencies

know that we can strike anywhere in the Niger-Delta and there is no barrier whatsoever for us in the creeks, which is our homeland. I can travel anywhere in the Niger-Delta. I can travel out of Nigeria by speedboat. If what they are thinking is that we cannot get to the Bonga field or any other offshore facility, they are joking. Nowhere is unreachable to us, he boasted in a chat with the Vanguard newspaper. Since that attack, Boy Loaf has been rated second only to Tompolo in terms of proven guerilla ability. His main camp is located in the creeks of Southern Ijaw in Bayelsa State. He claimed he was at the Okerenkoko meeting where MEND was formed and he even coined the name MEND. Boy Loaf claims to be a Mechanical Engineering graduate of of the University of Calabar. He supplies electricity and water for gratis to his community in Southern Ijaw and insists that he is not into illegal oil bunkering. He reiterates he is an inveterate hater of the geographical expression called the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Ateke Tom Popularly referred to as father by his followers, Ateke Tom, leader of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force, NDVF, started off with a cult group known as the Icelander or Germans. Completing the founding team often referred to as the five wise men are Theophilous, Cassy, Cockman and the late Julius Oruifemeka, a.k.a. Juju, who was allegedly beheaded by Tom for attempted betrayal. An indigene of Okrika in Rivers State, Tom, a fisherman by birth, believes strongly in the potency of charms, talisman and amulets, and has a reputation of generosity towards his followers and ruthlessness for his enemies. For instance, after the 2003 split in the Icelander which led to the formation of the rival Greenlanders by Julius Oruitemeka and others, he allegedly ordered the beheading of Oruitemeka. Determined to re-brand his organisation, he renamed the Icelander the Niger Delta Vigilante Service, NDVS and later the Niger Delta Vigilante Movement, NDVM. The change in name did not change its cult philosophy. There is no doubting the fact that Tom was a strong factor in the creation of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Rivers State under the watch of the former Governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili and Dr. Abiye Sekibo, former Secretary to the Rivers State government. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission called him, The Generalissimo of the insurgents in Rivers State. During the hearing before the Commission, incumbent Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State said on oath that Tom had once confessed before former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Odili and himself at Aso Rock Villa in 2003 that he had killed over 2,000 people to ensure that PDP controlled the state between 1999 and 2003. He remains the most wanted militant in Rivers State and is the deadliest of them all. His former operational base is the Okochiri Evil Forest in Okirika, headquarters of the Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State, before he was dislodged by the Joint Task Force, JTF, led by General Sarkin Yakin Bello, Commander of the 2 Amphibious Brigade and Commander, JTF, Rivers State. Dokubo Asari The popular leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force NDPVF, was also the the President of the Ijaw Youth Council, IYC. Asari later vacated his position as head of the NDPV. Brutus Columbus Epibade is also regarded as a co-founder of the NDPVF. The NDPVF founder’s claims to have derived inspiration from Major Isaac Adaka Jasper Boro, the Ijaw revolutionary and nationalist who began his own guerrilla war against the federal government in 1965 with the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Service. During NDPVF’ s prolonged armed violence against Ateke Tom’s group in 2003 and early 2004, Asari

collaborated with a number of armed groups such as The Bush Boys, Deebam and Greenlander. Currently, the NDPVF operates under two umbrella organisations - the Joint Revolutionary Council and MEND. Asari believes in the formation of an Ijaw ethnic state where the tribe will have unrestrained access to its natural resources. Soboma George Second-in Command to Ateke Tom and now a senior Commander in MEND. He does not speak to the press. Unlike Tom who is not afraid to publish his photo in print, George is taciturn but deadly. He was arrested by security forces and charged to court for murder and armed robbery along with others after breaking away from Tom. But in a daylight operation unprecedented in the history of militancy in the country, his loyalists stormed the Port Harcourt prisons on Saturday 18 June 2005 by scaling the prison walls near the waterfronts, killed some prison officials and released him. He was spirited away into a waiting speedboat. In 2006, he was arrested for a minor traffic offence, while driving one of his jeeps in Port Harcourt even when the police said he was on their wanted list. He was said to have offered the policemen about N50,000 to allow him go. A report said the policemen wanted more because they knew who he was and when he could not play ball, he was taken to the Central Police Station, CPS, Port Harcourt and detained. It less than two hours, a rescue team of about 50 fighters armed with dangerous weapons like AK47, general purpose machine guns, grenades and dynamites anchored at the Borokiri waterfront marched to the CPS that shares boundary with MOPOL barracks, bombed the station and released Soboma. Besides the destruction of the CPS, seven trooper vehicles belonging to the Nigerian Police were burnt. The overwhelmed policemen on duty fled for safety. Soboma was alleged to be well-patronised by the Rivers State government and was the security contractor for the Liberation Stadium and the Civic Centre even at the time he was declared wanted during the Odili era. Former Rivers State governor, Celestine Omehia’ s short tenure saw the police go after Soboma. The hotel he was allegedly staying was bombed by JTF, but once again Soboma was lucky. He is one of those deep-rooted in the struggle to emancipate the Niger Delta.

The Agbukumasa/Jenekpo The Niger Delta struggle is far from being an Ijaw exclusive preserve. Determined to stave off some of the threat arising from their ominipresent neighbours, the Itesekiri ethnic group, one of the two groups that share the creeks of the Delta with the Ijaws have found the need to maintain and sustain an ethnic army. Operating under the name of Agbukumasa which is their local variant of the Kamikasa, the group is commanded by a certain retired Major of the Nigerian Army. A source told this magazine that unlike the Ijaw ethnic militia which are usually on the offensive side, the Agbokumasa is purely a defensive outfit. They operate within the Itsekiri town located on the strait of the Benin River. The Jenekpo, with zonal command at Omadino, also performs a similar role. The latest JTF offensive against the militants has recorded some successes against militants in Delta State. To some Nigerians, these elements have derailed and are actually criminals who kidnap innocent citizens and demand ransoms, commit robberies and attack oil facilities mainly to rake in huge illegitimate earnings that can sustain their expensive lifestyles. But the big question remains: How far can the on-going military confrontation styled, Find, Fix and Finish\rdblquote go in squelching the struggle, whether the true armed struggle or the criminality, in the Niger Delta?

A recent study by the Port Harcourt-based Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development, CEHRD, on the subject indicates that the ultimate solution lies in the ability of the Nigerian government to pursue a true and genuine agenda of democratisation, justice, economic stabilisation and creation of opportunities for its citizens. This, the study reports, will divert the attention of its population from gangsterism and violence. The report warns that if the problem is not addressed, the armed warlords operating in the region will undermine the region and plunge it into a dangerous conflict zone where the gangs will rule at the expense of legitimate authority, development, security and progress of all. The situation looks hopeless, and, again, if not checked, the bloodchild in Somalia and other conflict zones around the world will be a child’s play, the report concludes. < ><-->

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