'NIMASA Pays Tompolo N1.5 Billion Monthly' – Ex Chairman Speaks

In an interview with The Leadership in Kaduna, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA)'s pioneer chairman, Dr Ahmed Tijani Ramalan, has disclosed that the agency pays the sum of N1.5 billion monthly to the ex-militant leader, Mr. Government Ekpemupolo, a.k.a Tompolo, to protect the nation’s maritime areas. He lamented that despite such gesture, the country still loses over 400,000 barrels of crude oil daily from the nation’s shores and called on President Muhammadu Buhari to cancel the contract given to the ex-militant by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

“Over 400, 000 barrels of crude oil are being stolen daily from our shores under President Jonathan; yet we had a government that has the Navy, the Army and the Air Force, and the government of Jonathan decides to hand over the security of our maritime waters to Tompolo at a very exorbitant amount of money. And these same people that are given the job of our maritime security are the ones that are collaborating with the international shipping companies to steal our oil.”

According to him, one of the ways to help the country’s economy to bounce back is to revoke Tompolo’s contract.

“And if Buhari does not do so, we will be the first to start attacking him. There is no basis to give that kind of billion naira job to ex-militants,” he declared.

Making further clarification on how long the payment has been going on, Ramalan said it started “sometime after 2011 when Jonathan won his election and since then the payment has been on.

“I was the pioneer chairman of NIMASA, and NIMASA is the one funding the contract given to Tompolo. This is a guy that is collecting about N1.5bn every month and yet our Armed Forces are not well funded. So, we call on the president to discard such contract.”

He further stated that Buhari’s strong character and honesty would help him to lead country well.