Radical Itsekiri Socio-Cultural group, Itsekiri Consolidated Movement, ICM has faulted claims by High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo that the abduction of 14 Journalists and six Ugborodo indigenes by his foot-soldiers have been “mischievously-hyped” and intended to denigrate “his perceived integrity”, declaring that rather than tender unreserved apology, “Tompolo’s attempted poor defence is embedded with falsehood”.
The Itsekiri group in an apparent reaction to High Chief Government Ekpemupolo’s advertorial in the Vanguard Newspaper of Monday December 1, 2014, demanded to know why the “ex-militant leader” was silent on the seizure till date of midgets, memory cards, writing pads, modem and other professional tools of the 14 media practitioners after they went on their legitimate assignment in Ugborodo, an Itsekiri Community.
The group posited that the mere acknowledgement of a peaceful press conference held at Oporoza on Wednesday November 12 to stop President Goodluck Jonathan from performing the Ground Breaking of the EPZ at Ogidigben without the interruption of the Itsekiri people, yet Tompolo militants went ahead to ambush these same newsmen on their way from Escravos where they went to cover the Itsekiri angle of the controversial land ownership of the EPZ site, “is a clear indication that Tompolo and his Gbaramatu brothers who claim to be oppressed are in-fact hiding the real truth or else why seize visual and audio memories from Journalists capturing a place you claim to be yours?”.
The ICM in a statement signed by his Chairman and Public Relations Officer, Messrs Oritsegbegbemi Besidone and Franklin Metsese averred that High Chief Government Ekpemupolo’s acceptance of a trap set and “the unfortunate ordeal” the 14 Journalists went through at his Oporoza home for over six hours “perhaps tells a better story of who are the real mischief makers”.
While declaring that Mr. Emma Arubi of Daily Independent Newspapers, who suffered bruises and humiliation from Tompolo’s boys and Channels TV camera man have since revealed to the world how they were molested, ICM advised the ex-militant leader, Tompolo to openly tender unreserved apology to the media practitioners and six Ugborodo indigenes his boys molested in a failed attempt to frame them up for gun-running “instead of trying to deceive the world of a non-existent attempt to attack Gbaramatu”.
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