Itsekiri Community Vows to Resist Tompolo’s Security Contract Renewal
Warri (Core Reporters) The Warri Indigenous People’s Movement (WIPM) has warned the Federal Government against renewing Mr. Oweizide Thomas Ekpemupolo (aka Tompolo’) security contract in Itsekiri land, citing concerns over annexation and human rights abuses.
This was contained in a statement signed by Hon. Kingsley Tenumah (Chairman), Comr. Monoyo Edon, (General Secretary) of the the Warri Indigenous People’s Movement (WIPM) which was made available to Core Reporters on Tuesday, June 24, 2025.
Allegations of annexation:
WIPM accuses Tompolo’s Tantita Security Services of annexing Itsekiri communities, chasing away inhabitants, and torturing Itsekiris in the guise of surveillance operations.
Infringement on Section 257 of the PIA
WIPM claims that renewing Tompolo’s contract would infringe on Section 257 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which places the burden of protecting oil infrastructure on host communities.
Concerns over Tompolo’s intentions:
WIPM describes Tompolo as a “sworn enemy of the Itsekiri people” and alleges that he would cause further trouble against the Itsekiri people if his contract is renewed.
Resistance to contract renewal:
WIPM has vowed to resist the renewal of Tompolo’s contract at all costs, citing concerns over the annexation of Itsekiri communities and the erosion of their ethnic identity.
Call for competent Itsekiri contractors
WIPM is appealing to the President to award the surveillance contract to competent Itsekiri contractors, citing the need for host communities to be involved in protecting oil infrastructure.
The statement highlights the complex issues surrounding the security contract and the tensions between the Itsekiri people and Tompolo’s company.
The statement reads in parts, “The leadership of the Warri Indigenous People’s Movement (WIPM) has watched with pity and disdain as Mr. Oweizide Thomas Ekpemupolo (aka Tompolo) pulls his usual diversionary tactics from his bag of tricks in a failed attempt to discredit a well-coordinated protest and petition by this Movement against the excesses of his company, Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited in the Warri Area of Delta State on the 18th of June, 2025 in Abuja.
“WIPM and indeed all Itsekiris (including the ones commissioned by Tompolo to respond to us) have never been against Tompolo and his surveillance contract. In fact, like every company operating in Nigeria, Itsekiri like other Nigerians are working in his Tantita company.
“At the conceptualization of the contract around the Warri region, some notable Itsekiris spoke in favour of Tompolo. So calling out Tompolo and his company for derailing from the scope of the contract is not a witch-hunt. It is nothing but sheer blackmail for the sympathizers of Tompolo and his Tantita to think we are opposing Tompolo because of his Ijaw ancestry. If anything, the Itsekiri ethnic nationality has been very magnanimous to the ex-militant. His Gbaramatu Kingdom sits between Omadino and Ugborodo land.
“Knowing Esimaje Awani and the so-called Forum of Itsekiri cluster Coordinators of Tantita Security Services for their stomach-first ideology, we would not have bothered to dignify them with a response because they have already failed to discredit our well-received Abuja protest but we have become so constrained to further expose them to their Itsekiri people as cheap sellouts and puppets in the hands of Tompolo.
“It is both shameless and hypocritical for them to leap in defense of Tantita’s continued operation in our Area despite the numerous atrocities Tompolo and his security company have orchestrated against their own Itsekiri people under the guise of surveillance simply because they are observing table manners.
“Itsekiri, Isoko, and even some of Tompolo’s Ijaw kinsmen (through various press conferences and protests) have exposed the radical land annexation agenda behind the Tantita Surveillance contract, particularly in the Warri Area. This revelation was stated in our petition to the National Security Adviser, the Presidency and several protests on national television.
“In the course of executing the contract, Tompolo and his Tantita Security Services have deployed different strategies to annexing Itsekiri communities and chasing away their inhabitants. In a Gestapo style, Men of his Tantita stormed Usor and Tisun communities in Warri North, illegally arrested defenseless Itsekiris, whisked them to Oporaza to a private cell where they were tortured and starved. It took the intervention of notable Itsekiris to rescue those innocent Itsekiris from Tompolo’s Holding Cell.
“Since December 2024, in the guise of destroying illegal bunkering sites, Omadino settlements such as Ajelebe and Akpata have come under persistent attack by men of Tantita Security Services and Gbaramatu Ijaws who lay claim to those places after such operations.
“As we speak, Tompolo and Tantita have chased away Itsekiris from Kantu and Ijaghala communities who refused to denounce their Itsekiri ancestry and adopt his Gbaramatu Ijaw identity while claiming to have annexed those Itsekiri communities merely via press conferences.
“Most recently, men of Tantita Security Services acting on the orders of Tompolo arrested workers of Globacom who went to erect a telecom mast in Kantu community.
“This same scenario played out in the INEC Ward Delineation exercise where, in connivance with corrupt officials of the National Boundary Adjustment Commission, coordinates of communities in Ondo and Bayelsa states, Udu and Warri South-West Local Government Areas were stolen and imported to Warri North and Warri South LGAs to boost their population. These coordinates were then given to officials of INEC to input for their areas, thereby renaming Itsekiri communities to fictitious Ijaw names and substituting Itsekiri communities within 500m buffer zone of oil installations with Ijaws’. This has been sufficiently exposed to the general public,” the statement said.
