WARRI BOMB BLAST: Uduaghan Faces More Trouble, Security Threatened

PHOTO: SMOKE FROM ONE OF THE BOMB EXPLOSIONS NEAR THE DELTA STATE GOVERNMENTHOUSE ANNEX IN WARRI.

Warri, Delta March 22, (THEWILL) - The uncertainty behind the March 15^th bomb explosions around the Delta State Government House Annex, in Warri, planted and detonated by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), which eventually disrupted the post amnesty dialogue organized by the Vanguard Media Limited, publishers of the Vanguard Newspaper is gradually becoming an unresolved problem for the Delta State Government led by Dr. Emmanuel Ewetan Uduaghan.

THEWILL learnt that the incident might have impacted negatively on the economy of the state, as foreign investors continue to mull over a possible relocation from the troubled state to a more peaceful state.

Last Monday's bomb explosion created more trouble for the state government, even as residents in Warri and indeed Deltans seem to have lost confidence in Uduaghan’s peace and security agenda that has gulped billions in Delta State funds. The governor is known to pay militants in the state millions of naira monthly from government security votes to guarantee peace in that part of the state.

A Government House source told THE WILL that Governor Uduaghan’s Peace and Security Agenda took a big blow with the incident adding that it would take Uduaghan’s extra commitment to the process to actually convince Deltans that indeed the state is secure, otherwise it may impact negatively on his re-election bid in 2011.

Meanwhile, the people of Patani community in Delta State have disowned a militant leader, Commander Jerry, said to have led the militants that detonated the bombs in Warri.

THE WILL gathered that intelligence reports showed that Jerry is resident in Patani, a claim that has been refuted by the community chairman, Sunday Bomabebe.

According to him "There is no militant camp in Patani and we don’t know anybody called Commander Jerry here. We are disturbed that our community is being associated with the said Jerry."

He maintained that Patani is a peaceful community adding that the only militant leader that resided in the community over 10 years ago was a certain Commander Columbus, the second-in-command to Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo-Asari.

A source in the community, however, said Jerry has been impersonating Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo for a while in the community and bullying companies in the area including Setraco Construction Company to part with funds.

Tompolo was one of the militant leaders that accepted the federal government’s amnesty package.