Posted by By Isaac Olamikan on
Erstwhile Special Adviser to the former Governor of Bayelsa State on Government House Transport, Youths and Logistics, Chief Abel Ebifemowei (aka T.O) has not been finding it easy since his boss, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was kicked out of office by the state legislators.
Erstwhile Special Adviser to the former Governor of Bayelsa State on Government House Transport, Youths and Logistics, Chief Abel Ebifemowei (aka T.O) has not been finding it easy since his boss, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was kicked out of office by the state legislators.
Holed up abroad, his name still rings a bell and the intelligence community appears convinced he may be closely linked to operations by militants that are targeting oil workers.
Our sources say as soon as some youths of the Niger Delta extraction who tag themselves Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) held some expatriate oil company workers hostage, suspicious fingers were pointed in his direction.
His accusers allege he has been the one financing their activities considered inimical and evil by the federal authorities determined to keep the oil pipelines flowing and to quell restiveness in the Niger Delta.
A lawmaker told this publication that security chieftains during a brief to members of the National Assembly on the root of MEND activities reportedly gave the name of T.O as the brain behind the taking of hostages. They are said to have asserted that Chief Ebifemowei, a first cousin of Chief Alamieyeseigha was funding the hostage taking activities spearheaded by the militant Niger Delta youths on the high seas.
But much as the security operatives place the allegation on the doorstep of Chief Ebifemowei, from what we have heard, there was nothing they could do to catch up with the man who once celebrated his arrival of his status as a billionaire with fanfare. Ebifemowei had found sanctuary in faraway God's own country (USA) where he had run to at the height of the scandal that heralded the escape from a London jail of his erstwhile boss.
The Port Harcourt Telegraph gathered from impeccable sources that the Federal Government on getting hint of his whereabouts liaised with the US security agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI. On getting the protest of President Obasanjo's government about the chief, we gathered that the FBI went into action.
They reportedly paid the Bayelsa born politician a visit at his palatial home. We heard the house was thoroughly searched, considering the fact that the Federal Government had placed a most dangerous felon tag on his head. After the extensive search, from what we have been told, the no-nonsense-security operatives reportedly left disappointed that nothing incriminating was found.
Meanwhile, there are indications that the embattled chief has been relating with close political associates and hangers on, and telling them the direction to take in the soon-to-be held polls in the country.