High Chief Thomas Osen Ekpemupolo, 84-year-old father of ex-militant leader, High Chief Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo, amputated in July, weeks after soldiers allegedly brutalized him in Kurutie, Warri South-West Local Government Area, Delta State, is dead.
This was first reported by the Gbaramatu Voice, a community newspaper in Gbaramatu Kingdom, Delta State.
Thomas Osen Ekpemupolo, aged 84, died in the early hours of Wednesday at Lily Clinic, Deco Road, Warri.
The Ekpemupolo family would issue a statement shortly over their patriarch’s demise, a source in the community told PREMIUM TIMES.
During a military siege to root out members of the Niger Delta Avengers in the community on May 28, the older Ekpemupolo was allegedly attacked by the army officers.
In an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari last month, the Tompolo said
“the rough treatment” his father received in the hands of the soldiers led to the amputation of his lower limbs in July.
“From the doctor’s report, it will be a thing of miracle if he survives this incident,” said Tompolo, who had remained at large after he was declared wanted by the Nigerian government in February.
“Is this 84 year old man also a member of the Niger Delta Avengers that they brutalized him to the point of death?”