Just In: Militant Warlord, Tompolo’s Father Dies Weeks After Alleged Military Brutality

High Chief Thomas Osen Ekpemupolo, the Tunteriwei of Gbaramatu kingdom and father of embattled Niger Delta ex militant leader, Tompolo has passed away.

Chief Thomas Ekemupolo, the father of the former militant leader Government Ekpemupolo aka Tompolo, has died early this morning at Lily Clinic in Warri, Delta State after a brief illness.
Tompolo’s spokesman, Paul Bebenimibo, confirmed this development claiming that his death was a combination of illness and the recent military aggression in the Gbaramatu kingdom, adding that the deceased sustained injuries from the military in recent weeks.

According to him, “He died at about past 5am at Lily Clinic in Warri. He should be over 80 years. He’s been sick for a while now, a couple of months, even before the invasion. You know the aged kind of sickness, so with all the tension and all that, because he was in the village then.

“He went through some stress because they had to be taking him from Kurutie to Kunukunuma, from Kunukunuma to Warri because he was not sure of his safety, whether he would be arrested, so he had to be running from one village to the other in the riverine area before he was finally moved to Warri.
“About 2 months ago, he had a problem with one of his legs, which they had to amputate, He finally gave up this morning,” SaharaReporters quoted him as saying.

It was gathered that during a military siege to root out members of the Niger Delta Avengers in the Gbaramatu community on May 28, the older Ekpemupolo was allegedly attacked by the army officers.
In an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari last month, the ex-militant leader said “the rough treatment” his father received in the hands of the soldiers led to the amputation of his lower limbs in July.

“From the doctor’s report, it will be a thing of miracle if he survives this incident,” said Tompolo, who had remained at large after he was declared wanted by the Nigerian government in February.
“Is this 84 year old man also a member of the Niger Delta Avengers that they brutalized him to the point of death?,” he had asked.