by Be Ezeamalu
The father of a former militant leader, Government Ekpemupolo (also known as Tompolo), is dead, the Gbaramatu Voice, a community newspaper in Gbaramatu Kingdom, Delta State, is reporting.
Thomas Osen Ekpemupolo, aged 84, died in the early hours of Wednesday at Lily Clinic, Deco Road, Warri.
The Ekpemupolo family would issue a statement shortly over their patriarch’s demise, a source in the community told PREMIUM TIMES.
During a military siege to root out members of the Niger Delta Avengers in the 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?”
