Tompolo loses father · He’s a victim of military unlawful invasion —IYC

Four months after troops invaded Gbaramatu kingdom in Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State, father to embattled former militant, Chief Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, is dead.

High Chief Thomas Osen Ekpemupolo, the Tunteriwei of Gbaramatu kingdom, reportedly died early hours of Wednesday, in Warri, Delta State.

A source disclosed that he died at Lily Clinic, Deco Road, Warri.

Reports had it that Chief Ekpemupolo, who died at 84, was allegedly brutalised by soldiers during the May 28 Military siege on Gbaramatu Kingdom.

Tompolo, in an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, on July 22, raised the alarm that soldiers, in the wake of the invasion, brutalised his aged father.

According to him, the brutality eventually metamorphosed into the amputation of the octogenarian’s lower limb.

Tompolo, in the letter, had expressed fears over his father’s health, alleging that the torture he suffered might eventually claim his life.

“That same day, the military went to Kurutie town in search of my 84-year-old father and brutalised him.

“We managed to rescue him to Warri and hospitalised him. Sadly, one of his lower limbs was amputated two weeks ago.

“From doctors’ report, it will be a thing of miracle if he survived this incident,” he said.

Meanwhile, reacting to the death of the Ijaw chief, a Gbaramatu community leader from Kokodiagbene, Comrade Sheriff Mulade, described the development as a shock to the people.

Also, the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), in a statement issued and circulated to journalists in Warri, expressed shock, while describing it as unfortunate and painful.