OPOROZA, Nigeria (AFP) - Thousands of jubilant villagers of a Oporoza riverine villages in the Niger Delta came out to witness a top militant surrender his arsenal under a Nigerian government amnesty deal.
Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, gave up an array of weapons to top government officials in his stronghold just hours to the deadline of a two-months amnesty deadline.
"All is well," was all he could say before he broke down and sobbed in front of government officials, fighters and supporters outside the palace of the traditional ruler of Gbaramatu kingdom.Tompolo, seen as a kingpin of the militancy in the region, was the last of the prominent militant leaders to come out of the creeks to take up the government's amnesty offer.
He accepted the unconditional pardon at a meeting with Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua, who dispatched his presidential jet to fetch him to Abuja late Saturday.Two other prominent militant leaders who took up the government offer at the 11th hour in a bid to end unrest in the oil producing region are Ateke Tom and Farah Dagogo.
Another senior militant leader Victor Ben, better known as Boyloaf, turned in his arms last month.Tom, an ethnic Ijaw militia chief, and Dagogo, the overall field commander of the region's main armed group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), gave up arms along with their fighters in the oil capital of Port Harcourt on Saturday.
"This is a dream come true," said Defence Minister Godwin Abbe as Tompolo surrendered his arms in the Gbaramatu kingdom, a village targeted by a government military offensive which left many displaced in May this year."It's an indication that peace has finally come to the Niger Delta. Time has come for us to settle down as a country and find a solution to the problem that led to the crisis in the region," said Abbe.
With militant attacks knocking Nigeria from its position as Africa's top oil exporter -- daily production has slid to 1.7 million barrels per day from 2.6 million in January 2006 -- Yar'Adua announced the amnesty offer in June.The militants, which took up arms in the swamps of the oil-produing region three years ago, have claimed they are fighting for a fairer distribution of the nation's oil wealth for the impoverished people of the Niger Delta, where most of the oil is drilled but which has seen little money from the country's top export earner.
In the nearby oil city of Warri, Godspower Sylva, 42, one of Tompolo's fighters, sipping from a bottle of gin after he failed to make it to the disarming ceremony due to a shortage of boats, said he wanted the government to speed up the development of the region."Today marks a turning point in the struggle because the government has finally accepted that we are fighting for a just cause.
"They should follow up the amnesty by fast-tracking the development of the Niger Delta. This has been the cause of our militancy and armed struggle," he said.MEND leader Henry Okah, who was freed in July as part of a government amnesty deal after treason charges against him were dropped, said the unrest was likely to continue because the root cause of the violence had not been addressed.
Before the disarmanent ceremony, Tompolo took government officials on a tour of the village, showing them some houses lying in ruins following the government aerial bombardment of his camp and nearby communities in May.
