We don?t know anything about the robbery, but we know that the Rivers State government has been looking for ways to eliminate me for sometime now, because I have done a lot of work for them and I know a lot of their secrets. This is not the first time I am being set up. In fact, there had been three or four failed attempts by the same Rivers State government to rope me in and kill me, but I thank God that I have survived all attempts. All I know is that on the day of one of the robberies, somebody phoned us from Port Harcourt and told us that serious shooting was going on in Port Harcourt, and the person warned us to be vigilant because our opponents could be on the prowl. So I called up my boys and we all took up strategic positions and after some time, we observed that the shooting was coming close to us, towards the Abuloma Jetty here in Okrika. We remained on red alert all through the night. The next morning we heard that the assailants were armed robbers and that they passed through Ntoki Estate after the operation, burnt some cars there and boarded a speedboat to make good their escape. Two days later, stories started to make the rounds. The government later claimed that since the robbers passed through Ntoki Estate, where I live in Port Harcourt, they must be my men. But I said that was not possible, and the fact that they escaped through Ntoki does not mean that they are my men. After all, before then, robbers had escaped through Bundi dockyards, Makogba, which everybody knows. So, would you now hold the residents of those areas responsible for the operation? So it does not make sense to me. And let me tell you this, for a long period before the attacks, I had withdrawn all my boys from Ntoki and Port Harcourt because they were being accused of petty pick-pocketing and theft of handsets. I demobilized them from Port Harcourt and told them to go back to their various locations or home towns until their services were needed and they all complied. So, when I heard rumors that the state government was accusing me of involvement in armed robbery I treated them with disbelief. But I was surprised at what happened on the May 26. It was hell. The government attacked us from three angles. The Air Force attacked us from the air; the Navy came through the waterways and soldiers moved into our land, shooting, killing and burning houses. They killed more than 10 of my men. They burnt three of my buildings, destroyed my poultry farms, killed my dogs, but I am not surprised because this is not the first time they have tried to kill me by setting me up. I remember soon after the peace deal with Asari Dokubo, the new Commissioner of Police called me and sought my assistance on how to curb the rampant cases of armed robbery. The Fire-For-Fire commander was also present at the meeting. I gave them my word and expressed my willingness to assist in salvaging the situation, just like I had done before. I told them that I would use my boys to fish out the bad people from their hide-outs within the city. So, the next day, as agreed, I came with my boys to Ntoki area.
Suddenly, the police came to say that the presence of my boys in the area constituted a security threat to residents. But I re-assured them that there was no cause for alarm and that the presence of the boys there was to do a clean-up job as agreed. So they left. The next day, Kama, the Fire-for-Fire commander, invited me to his office. When I got there, he repeated the accusation that my boys constituted a threat to the neighborhood. But I reminded him that my boys were there in line with the agreement we both had to clear Port Harcourt of criminals. Midway into the meeting, armed troopers were maiming their way to my house and it was that point that Kama told me about the deployment of policemen to my house at Ntoki, advising me to go home and meet the troopers. When I got there, I met with the police woman who led the operation, a certain Hajiya. She told me that they had a report that I came into town with three boats full of arms and ammunition and that they were there to search my house. I led them in and they conducted a thorough search of the entire building and at the end of the exercise, found nothing harmful, not even a machete. I then asked them, ?Why do you choose to embarrass me this way, after reaching an agreement with you?? The police commissioner later apologized to me and it was published in a local newspaper here in Port Harcourt. The commissioner commended me for my conduct and implored other youth leaders to emulate me.
You said you?ve worked for the Rivers State government in so many ways. What do you mean by that?
I am chairman of a vigilance group, so whenever there is problem anywhere, they send me there to cool down the area. Like during the crisis at the Nigerian Ports Authority, and when Patrick Warri was the chairman of the Dock Workers Union, I was deployed to ?cool down? the uprising! Also, during the crisis at Alakiri when some Egbesu Boys took over an oil rig belonging to Anadril and demanded N4 million as ransom. The Navy and all the oil workers on location were held hostage for several days. The government invited me and took me to the location in a chartered speedboat at midnight and I rounded up all the Egbesu Boys and handed them over to the government.
How did you acquire so much influence among Okrika youths?
It?s because of the kind of work I have done in the past. At a period in Okrika, you could not organize any social event like burial, naming ceremony or chieftaincy title conferment for fear of the activities of some bad boys who went about looting, stealing, maiming and raping innocent people. So I took it upon myself to cleanse the society. I came out alone and fought the bad boys to a standstill and from that point; other youths came to join me in this struggle. It was from there that I became the chairman of the vigilance group. And from that point, the Okrika people started believing in me and Ateke Tom became a household name in Okrika.
When did you meet Governor Peter Odili and how did your relationship with him begin?
Based on my performance in Okrika, my popularity increased and Odili sought my assistance in solving the Alakiri hostage situation. Before then, as PDP men, Dokubo Asari and I had worked together to ensure that Odili was re-elected, and we stabilized things after the 2003 elections. Later, however, it was the same government that caused the altercation between me and Dokubo. A lot of rumors and hearsay came into the picture.
Do you have any evidence to show that Governor Odili or the Rivers State government is responsible for your plight?
Yes. The way and manner my house was attacked and destroyed, and my boys killed, is enough. The state government once accused me of bringing in two trailers full of arms into Okochire. I was aghast. Do you know how much it costs to procure two trailers of arms? Where were the security men? It was a big lie but before you knew it, they had invaded my estate at Okochire, searched everywhere, but found nothing at the end. But the same people allowed Sogboma George to break out of jail and he started killing people. He made an attempt to kill Charlie, but failed and a battle ensued. But government again came out to say that I provided Charlie with arms to fight back. But what business do I have with that? So the Rivers State government is responsible for the whole problem and they know why they are doing it. I believe they have something in mind.
What could that be?
It is to kill us.
But Sogboma George was your deputy and it is believed that you organized his escape from jail. Don?t mind them. It was the Rivers State government that organized the jail break for Sogboma so that he would come out to fight us. But the whole thing backfired. Yes, Sogboma George was my boy, he was in fact, my second in command during the fight with Asari Dokubo. After we had made peace with Asari, Obasanjo had forgiven us, Odili had agreed to bury the hatchet and a peace committee was set up, Sogboma George, without any of us knowing about it, killed a member of the Greenlander group. So I expelled him from my group and told him to go his own way. He was later arrested by the police and put in jail. But he struck a deal with Odili to break jail and come out to fight us. His group is known as the ?Outlaws?, and as the name sounds, they are above the law and nobody can touch them.
What has been the response of Dr. Abiye Sekibo, Minister of Transport and prominent indigene of Okrika, to the 26 May attack?
I don?t know. I don?t know how to reach him, but I believe that he must have heard.
As a youth leader in Okrika, who is your man for the 2007 governorship race in Rivers State?
I don?t have anybody. Everybody is free to run. I don?t want to get involved in politics anymore. I fear politicians now.
But your services would be required to mobilize youths and all that...
Do you really like me? I am yet to recover from the Odili experience. I helped install his government but now they want to kill me and you are asking me to go back to politics. Never! Nobody would have my services again. I don?t trust any politician again. I only trust God and God alone.
So what?s the situation here in Okrika?
Everybody is feeling terrible about the attack. They came, raped women, killed children and all that.
But they say that only six of your men were killed in the shoot-out.
It?s a lie, nobody fired a shot. If I had wanted to kill them [the policemen] I would have done so. I had the opportunity but I told my boys to hold their fire. They killed more than 16 of my boys. Initially, it was only six, but later we discovered some more bodies at the riverside. I can mention some of their names. Organizer, the man who owns that house, was killed and his penis was cut off in public.
Do you have pictures?
It is not possible to have pictures because once they commit their atrocities; they carry the bodies along with them, thereby destroying the evidence. They also killed Ceasefire, Diego, Oboda, Young, Nnamdede, Scoro... so many.
So how did you escape? Did you disappear into thin air as alleged?
That is why they ought to respect me; because they can?t get me. Whatever they see whenever they come after me, they should take it like that. But I didn?t open fire. I have never fought against the government, police or troops but if I am pushed to the wall, I would take action. Right now I am living like a refugee. I want compensation for the destruction of my properties and compensation for others who suffered a similar fate. I want the Rivers State people to know that the Rivers State government is responsible for the attack. I no longer have any problem with anybody but government is trying to make me have a re-think. I am not afraid to die, but before they can kill somebody like me, many souls must have gone and the only way to avert this imminent bloodshed is to appeal to the Rivers State government to do what is right. They must pay me compensation for all the damage they did.
Before the coming of Niger Delta Vigilante Group what was Ateke Tom doing for a living?
I am a successful fisherman here in Okrika. I have fishing boats, farms, poultry and some landed property. I am a serious hustler; I have never been a lazy man. Ask around and they will tell you.
If you meet with Odili one-on-one what will you tell him?
I will tell him to settle me and arrange all my things for me. I will tell him to erase the armed robber tag they have placed on me. I?ll tell him that I am no longer interested in their dirty Rivers politics.
Has he made any move to contact you?
No. Rather, they are making moves to kill me. They came, beat up my wife, poured hot water on her and stripped her in public few days after the raid on Okrika.
What do you think would bring an end to the cult/armed robbery menace in Port Harcourt?
Everything lies in the hands of the government. When you tell them what to do, they still go back to organize and sponsor the cult groups because they want to use them for politics or for other things. Some government officials benefit from this crisis; they make money whenever there is confusion.
Why would government want to eliminate you?
I don?t know. Maybe somebody thinks that I will be an obstacle to his political ambition. They want to weed me out so that their candidate may have a safe landing in 2007. But I have told them that I am no longer interested in politics. They should just leave me alone to arrange things for myself. Imagine, two days after the raid on Okrika, we heard on radio that robbers attacked a bank in Port Harcourt. Why didn?t the government use the Army choppers and heavy military equipment they used in Okrika on 26 May to fight the robbers in Port Harcourt? During the attack on Daewoo, the robbers spent six hours at it in daylight and there was no reaction from the military.
If you are invited by the state government today to help fish out the robbers, would you honour the call?
I doubt it. A lot of politics goes on in government. If you go into it, they would say you must be part of the robbers to know them so well. No way. I can?t fall for that kind of trap anymore. I don?t want to work for government again. I want to live my normal life. I have a beautiful wife, I have a family and I want to return to my children. Government knows the real criminals. The jail breakers are in the marine base and recently, the government went there, after much pressure from the public. Everybody knows that. They found dynamite, rocket launchers, bullets and army camouflage uniforms. But government did nothing. Today, Sogboma George has been appointed the Chief Security Officer for Sharks and Dolphin football clubs; he is in charge of stadium security. He has also been working with a popular governorship aspirant.
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