Government Oweizide Ekpemupolo aka Tompolo, was tired of Niger Delta agitators being hauled into prisons. He was particularly pained with Asari Dokubo’s conditions at the Kuje Prison, Abuja.
Tompolo decided to marshal out a plan to break Kuje Prison and free Dokubo. He armed his men with high caliber weapons, and they chose a date. He called Dokubo and told him to prepare as his men would storm the Kuje Prison to free him.
On the D-Day, in 2006, Dokubo called Tompolo to say he had a dream that he died during the operation to free him. And that he was not sure it is wise to free him from Kuje Prison in the way it is planned.
Tompolo encouraged Dokubo to be strong. He assured him all would be well.
As the armed Militants headed to Abuja, Dokubo switched off his phones and asked the Prison officials to take him to the underground.
Dokubo was underground of the Kuje Prison when the armed Militants arrived. They called his numbers repeatedly and there was no response. They couldn’t carry out the operations anymore as the target could not be communicated with.
They called Tompolo. As they deliberated on with Tompolo on what next to do, someone mentioned that there was a certain Joshua Maciver, a Niger Delta militant in the Kaduna Prison.
They all agreed to head to Kaduna from Kuje Prison. A call was put across to Maciver to prepare for an escape. Maciver alerted Prison officials he was seriously sick that he urgently needed medical attention.
Tompolo boys arrived Kaduna Prison, hooded, fully armed with assault weapons, bombs and all kinds of top military weapons. They killed, shot sporadically, broke into the prison and set Joshua Maciver free.
Joshua was serving prison sentence after he was convicted for murder, terrorism and sea piracy, according to those familiar with his case. They said he was never originally part of the Niger Delta agitation.
As soon as he escaped from the Kaduna Prison, Maciver was taken to Tompolo who kept him in his camp 5 for years, mentored him and sent him back to Bayelsa where he went to set up his own camp of militants and became their leader.
Camp 5 was the notorious island headquarters of Tompolo.
When Amnesty was approved by the Musa Yar Adua’s Govt, Maciver thought it was a ploy by Government to arrest him. Realizing how he escaped from the Kaduna Prison, he refused to show up to embrace the Amnesty program.
He instead, remained in Bayelsa where he cleaned himself up, integrated into the local politics of the state while continuing to maintain his boys whom he uses for politicians.
It is the control he has with several militants under him that endeared him to Timipre Sylva who saw him as a good choice for a Deputy, without checking his background.
Jackson Ude via @jacksonpbn
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