Palpable tension gripped Gbaramatu kingdom and other parts of Warri, Delta State and the Niger Delta region on Friday morning after suspected militants blew up strategic pipelines in Warri South West local government area of Delta state.
Multiple explosions also rocked several oil installations between Ikpokpo and Odidi flow stations, mostly in Gbaramatu kingdom, barely hours after a Federal High Court in Lagos ordered security operatives to arrest Chief Government Ekpemupolo.
Ekpemupolo, who goes by the alia of Tompolo, is one of the founders of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). He hails from Kurutie community in Gbaramatu.
It was gathered that the attacks started shortly before midnight and lasted till the early hours of Friday.
At the time of this report on Friday afternoon, the Nation learnt that residents of the riverside communities are fleeing in anticipation of another bloody operation by the militants and soldiers of the Joint Task Force.
