Oweizidei Thomas Ekpemupolo, also known as Tompolo, is a religious leader of the Woyin Religion, an indigenous belief system of the Ijaw people. He was a former leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), influenced by the Egbesu Deity, which represents truth, fairness, and equity - an alternate name for Woyin. Tompolo and his followers participated in the Niger Delta arm struggle for the emancipation of the region. His nickname "Tompolo" was derived from his father's name, Chief Thomas Osen Ekpemupolo. Specifically, "Thomas" was shortened to "Tom" and "Ekpemupolo" was shortened to "Polo", resulting in the nickname "Tompolo".

Early life

Tompolo was born in 1971 to a royal family in Okerenkoko, the traditional Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri South West Local Government Area in

Delta State Delta is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South (Nigeria), South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named after the Niger Delta—a large part of which is in the state—the state was formed from the former Bendel State, on 27 August 1 ...

. Ekpemupolo had his basic education at Okepopo Primary School in

Warri The city of Warri is an oil hub within South-South Nigeria and houses an annex of the Delta State Government House. Warri City is one of the major hubs of the petroleum industry in Nigeria. Warri, Udu, Okpe and Uvwie are the commercial ...

Activism and militancy

In 1993, Tompolo dropped out of college and joined a resistance group in the

Niger Delta The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopolitic ...

. In 1998, Tompolo joined the newly formed

Ijaw Youth Council The Ijaw Youth Council founded on the is a sociopolitical organization in Nigeria, representing the interest of the Ijaw people, the fourth largest ethnic groups in Nigeria. The Ijaw Youth Council was founded in Kaiama, Bayelsa State on the 1 ...

and became a well respected member. Since there was very little progress in the Ijaw Youth Council, Tompolo joined the

Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) is a decentralised militant group in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. MEND's actionsincluding sabotage, theft, property destruction, guerrilla warfare, and kidnappingare part of the b ...

. Tompolo's invitation to

Mujahid Dokubo-Asari Asari-Dokubo (born 1964), formerly Melford Dokubo Goodhead Jr. and typically referred to simply as Asari, is a major political figure of the Ijaw ethnic group in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. He was president of the Ijaw Youth Council for ...

, leader of the

Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force The Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force (NDPVF) is one of the largest armed groups in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria and is composed primarily of members of the region's largest ethnic group—the Ijaw people. The group was founded in 2004 in ...

(NDPVF) to take refuge in Delta state in 2005 helped precipitate the formation of MEND soon afterwards. Ekpemupolo quickly rose to a high commander in MEND and with his vast wealth he was able to supply MEND with large amounts of weapons and new equipment. Tompolo was in command of thousands of militants and was very successful in attacking the insensitivity of the government and the Multinational oil companies to the exploitation and degradation of the peoples and environments of the

. For years Tompolo was a commander in various guerrilla groups in the Niger Delta which were all agitating against their perceived insensitivity of the federal government and the international oil companies towards to exploitation and degradation of the Niger Delta.

Amnesty

During his time as a guerrilla commander, he, under the auspices of MEND was able to drive the Nigerian government to grant amnesty to MEND members who decided to surrender. Tompolo was granted full amnesty as well as all of his men when he embraced the amnesty offer on the Federal Government of Nigeria under president

Umaru Musa Yar'Adua Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (; 16 August 19515 May 2010) was a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2007 until his death in May 2010. He won the Nigerian presidential election held on 21 April 2007, and was sworn in on 29 M ...

on June 27, 2009. Tompolo embraced amnesty on October 4, 2009, in order to allow for peace in the area, and for the government and oil companies to carry out development projects, and provide jobs and training.

Arrest warrant

In January 2016, under the regime of the

Muhammadu Buhari Muhammadu Buhari (born 17 December 1942) is a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2015 to 2023. A retired Nigerian army major general, he was the military head of state of Nigeria from 31 December 1983 to 27 Augu ...

government, an arrest warrant for Tompolo was issued on charges of theft and money laundering. Prior this, his last public appearance was in 2014 and for six years his location and whereabouts were clandestine until 2020 when he resurfaced in his Egbesu shrine. In August 2022, Muhammadu Buhari renewed a lucrative contract to monitor the Delta region pipelines with Tompolo.

Personal life

Tompolo is a traditionalist and is the chief priest of the

Egbesu Egbesu is the deity of justice of the Ijaw people of the Niger Delta region. Egbesu is also perceived as the spiritual foundational force for combating evil. The Egbesu force can only be used in defence or to correct an injustice, and only by peo ...

deity, which is the god of war in the

Ijaw Ijaw may refer to: *Ijaw people The Ijaw people, also known as the Izon people, are an ethnic group found in the Niger Delta region in Nigeria, with primary Population, population clusters in Bayelsa State, Bayelsa, Delta State, Delta, and River ...

tribe.

Footnotes

References

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tompolo 1971 births Living people People from Warri Nigerian guerrillas Pagans