Asari Dokubo, Lori-Ogbebor Under Fire For Opposing Tompolo’s Pipeline Contract

The Niger Delta Movement for Radical Change (NDMRC) has launched a scathing attack on Chief (Mrs) Rita-Lori Ogbebor over her stance regarding the N4.5 billion pipeline contract granted to Chief Government Ekpemupolo aka Tompolo by the NNPC and the Federal Government, accusing her of encouraging tribal conflict. 

The group also attacked Asari Dokubo hard for making unfavorable remarks about Tompolo in relation to the pipeline contract, branding him an enemy of the oil-rich Niger Delta Region. 

According to Chief Rita-Lori Ogbebor, the pipeline contract given to the former Niger Delta warlord Tompolo will cause anarchy in the region. She expressed her outrage over the decision in an interview. 

Chief (Mrs.) Rita-Lori Ogbebor had advised the Federal Government to revoke the N4.5 billion monthly pipeline contract given to Government Ekpemupolo aka Tompolo, the leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger-Delta (MEND), saying it was an invitation to anarchy. 

She criticized the Federal Government for failing in its responsibility to manage the oil resources in the Niger Delta and maintain peace in the nation, viewing the awarding of the enormous contract sum to one individual in the Niger Delta as a clear demonstration of the government abdicating its duties to the people.

But the NDMRC, an oil monitoring organization in the area, expressed regret over Chief (Mrs.) Rita-Lori Ogbebor’s stance on the pipeline contract in a press release signed by its president, Nelly Emma, secretary, John Sailor, and public relations officer (PRO), Stanley Mukoro, and made available to newsmen www.bigpenngr.com on Wednesday. 

They pleaded with her to put aside tribal sentiment and encourage unity among the Niger Delta Region’s residents. 

“Our attention has been drawn to Chief (Mrs. Rita-Lori Ogbebor’s outburst regarding the award of the pipeline contract to Tompolo, and we must say that we are saddened by her position on the matter. It is extremely regrettable and painful that Chief (Mrs.) Rita-Lori Ogbebor is bringing tribal issues into the decision to award the pipeline contract to Tompolo, a well-respected son of the area, at a time when we are discussing how to foster national unity and stop the unabated illegal oil bunkering in the oil-rich region. Her stance on the pipeline contract has left us extremely disappointed, the group said. 

“We hate to think that Lori-Ogbebor is involved in illegal bunkering hence she is seriously opposed to the award of the pipeline contract to Tompolo,” the group posits. 

“Because only those who are milking the nation dry and grinning from ear to ear with their proceeds from illegal bunkering business will really go against the pipeline contract.” 

“We want Chief (Mrs. Rita-Lori Ogbebor) to know that Tompolo has graciously sublet the Itsekiri aspect of the pipeline contract to an Itsekiri son, Chief Emani Ayiri, in his determination to carry everyone along as far as the pipeline contract is concerned.” This is for the avoidance of doubt. 

“Chief (Mrs.) Rita-Lori Ogbebor is undoubtedly on her own given that Itsekiri youths only recently stormed Oporoza, the Gbaramatu Kingdom’s headquarters in the Warri South Local Government Area of Delta, where they vowed to collaborate with Tompolo on the pipeline contract that had been given to him by the NNPC and the Federal Government, and declared their support for Tompolo,” they added. 

The group urged the Olu of Warri Kingdom, Ogiame Atuwatse III, to be wary of the kinds of chiefs around him so that he is not misled by mischief makers and those promoting tribal war, saying “her (Lori-Ogbebor) children are not on grounds, and if there is a crisis today, only innocent children and not her own will be affected”. 

The oil monitoring organization stated that “the time is really up for those deeply involved in the illegal oil bunkering in the Niger Delta Region that has destroyed the ecosystem in the area and led to a loss of revenue by the Federal Government, and it is Tompolo that can help the government to halt the illegal bunkering,” while also warning that Tompolo’s well-earned reputation was on the line if it failed to fulfill the pipeline contract. 

Let those opposed to Tompolo receiving the pipeline contract because he has everything necessary to complete this national assignment, including those making large sums of money from illegal oil bunkering, have a moment to reflect and accept the reality that Tompolo has arrived on a rescue mission because individuals like Chief (Mrs) Rita-Lori Ogbebor and Asari Dokubo are powerless to stop the train from moving. 

In reference to Asari Dokubo’s derogatory remarks and interviews about Tompolo in relation to the pipeline contract, the group said, “It is unfair and regrettable that this man, who was aided by the former Niger Delta warlord Tompolo, is publicly criticizing a person who is so well-respected in the nation.” 

“Asari Dokubo has quickly forgotten how Tompolo sheltered him by providing him with housing to protect him from Atake Tom and his boys, and at the end of the day, he paid Tompolo back by snatching the girlfriend of the senior brother of Tompolo, whom he eventually married. When Asari Dokubo returned to Rivers State, the same Tompolo gave him enough boys to follow him back home for his safety and protection, the group claimed. 

“We have always known Asari Dokubo to be a selfish and ungrateful person, so we are not surprised now at the behavior of Asari Dokubo,” the group continued. “His main source of income is ending because Tompolo is out to clean up the system and stop the oil theft for the benefit of all Nigerians, and this is not going to be palatable to Asari Dokubo and his companions.” 

The group added, “The people of the Niger Delta Region will continue to be appreciative to Chief Government Ekpemupolo, a wonderful son of the Niger Delta Region, for bringing the neglect of the area to the attention of the Federal Government and for his tenacious fight against oil theft in the region.” 

They said that Tompolo has contributed to the establishment of long-lasting peace in the Niger Delta region, the protection of crucial oil and gas infrastructure, the abolition of oil bunkering, and an increase in domestic revenue generation, particularly in the maritime sector. 

“Let all regional stakeholders unite and give him the support and motivation he needs with regard to this pipeline contract because he is not acting in his own self-interest but rather for the love of our cherished nation and the people of the Niger Delta Region.”

Asari Dokubo and Chief (Mrs.) Rita-Lori Ogbebor may be conspiring to undermine the pipeline contract, but Tompolo is willing to expose everyone involved in oil theft in the region. As a result, he is unafraid of them, the group alleges. 

NDMRC, however, commended the bold actions taken by President Muhammadu Buhari, the new NNPC’s GMD, and the Chief of Defence Staff to ensure that Tompolo received the pipeline contract in order to stop local oil theft. 

Our revenue, which has plummeted as a result of the unsavory activities of oil bunkering, the group said, will increase as our hardworking local contractors in the Niger Delta Region successfully complete the pipeline contract. 

However, the group urged security personnel to focus searchlights on anyone protesting Tompolo’s award of the pipeline contract, claiming that they might be hiding something from which their opposition was born.