High Chief Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo)

Commander of the rebel Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND)

Date of Birth: 1969
Place of Birth: Okerenkoko, Warri

Career: Contractor, Chevron; one of five original commanders, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND); Commander, Camp Five. 

Commentary: In contrast to the commotion his military campaign has provoked, High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, is quiet, unassuming and self conscious. He is far less educated than some of MEND’s sophisticated operators, who have delighted in getting their story across to foreign journalists.

Tompolo’s military career began during the Warri crisis, the 1997 war between Ijaws and Itsekiris, which began after General Sani Abacha’s government moved the local government headquarters from the Ijaw to the Itsekiri part of the city of Warri. Tompolo soon earned a reputation for bravery and ruthlessness. After the fighting ended, threats to his life forced him to flee Warri and move to Oporoza, in Gbaramatu Kingdom. There, he and his fighters decided to lead a military campaign against Shell, accusing the oil company of environmental despoliation and exploitation. The operation turned into a protection racket, with Shell making regular payments to Tompolo and his associates.

Impressed, the governors of Delta and Bayelsa states hired Tompolo to assist in political enforcement. He was heavily involved in the war against the Itsekiri neighbours of former Bayelsa Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha. Politicians and senior military officers also paid Tompolo to protect their illegal bunkering operations. He reportedly has a house in South Africa, and often receives visits from Delta State politicians and President Goodluck Jonathan.

Tompolo is much feared among the Ijaw. His reputation has been boosted by his worship of Egbesu, an ancient Ijaw god of war, revived to symbolise the struggle against the federal government and oil companies. Followers of Egbesu believe he provides protection from death and capture during war. Tompolo is in the inner sanctum of Egbesu warriors and an exponent of their elaborate sacrifices and rituals.

In May 2009, the former MEND commander in Bayelsa State was the target of a Joint Task Force operation that left scores of people dead and drove thousands of refugees from the Gbaramatu area. Fourteen of his ex-commanders have written to President Goodluck Jonathan, complaining that he profits from money meant for rehabilitating militants.