Norway Regrets Selling Warships

Ships sold to former militant in Nigeria.

Nigeria: Norway Regrets Selling Warships to Ex-Niger Delta Militant, Tompolo

Norwegian Defence Chief, Haakon Bruun-Hansen, an admiral, has apologised to the country’s lawmakers for the sale of a fleet of a decommissioned naval battleships and combats boats to a former Niger Delta militant, Government Ekpemupolo, also known as Tompolo.

Mr. Ekpemupolo was the leader of one of the several militias in the Niger Delta region that led a devastating campaign of violence against the Nigerian state for several years until he was awarded a multi-billion pipeline protection contract by the out-going Goodluck Jonathan administration as part of an amnesty deal with ex-combatants.

After giving up fighting, surrendering his arms, and leading his men to hand over their weapons, Tompolo in 2012 received at least six decommissioned Norwegian battleships, a Norwegian newspaper, Daglabet, found in December.

Among them were six fast-speed Hauk-class guided missile boats, now re-armed with new weapons.

To continue reading, please click here.

Source: allafrica.com

Previous Article
Next Article

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *