Former Niger Delta militant leader and founder of Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, Government Ekpemupolo (also known as Tompolo), has expressed worry over the state of the national economy just as he appealed to all Nigerians to “guard against greedy saboteurs of the nation’s oil and gas economy.”
“Our economy is in dire need of survival, so we cannot fold our hands and allow some people to sabotage the nation’s economy because of greed,” he stated.
Tompolo spoke at Oporoza, headquarters of Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State on Saturday shortly after being conferred with the Nigeria Union of Journalists Meritorious Award by the union’s national president, Chris Isiguzo.
The NUJ President noted that the award was “in recognition of Tompolo’s outstanding contributions to the security of oil and gas infrastructure by curtailing oil theft and pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta.”
The event also featured the induction of Tompolo into the Niger Delta Hall of Fame by members of the Delta Online Publishers Forum.
Speaking further, Tompolo said, “I don’t have any other place, except Nigeria. Nigeria is the only country I have. So, we must all join hands to protect and move Nigeria forward.”
Isiguzo had earlier explained that “the Union arrived at conferring the meritorious award on Tompolo during the last NUJ National Security Conference in Abuja, after a meticulous deliberation on his activities and successes in tackling economic sabotage head-on.”
According to the NUJ President, “Tompolo has set the pace for securing Nigeria from the throes of economic insecurity in the Niger Delta region.”
He urged the media, other security operatives and agencies as well as other Nigerians, to rally around him to sustain the good work he is doing.
“NUJ, having assessed the activities of TSSNL, we decided that we must accord the necessary recognition to the man who carries the flag, who birthed this organisation, who has exceptionally distinguished himself, and who has been celebrated by Nigerians across all walks of life,” Isiguzo said.
He enjoined journalists to keep contributing their quota by sharing intelligence with security agencies and operatives in order to engender tranquility, peace, harmony, and progress in the country.
