Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa
Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State wednesday maintained that suspected militants who killed three soldiers, injured civilians and carted off several military hardware last Monday in Nembe, must be brought to justice.
Describing the killings as “one incident too many,” the governor recalled that sometime last year in the same location, a similar attack where soldiers were murdered in cold blood, also occurred.
He offered his condolences to the military commanders, colleagues and families of the soldiers who were murdered in the attack, noting that he would be summoning the traditional rulers in the area and the chairman of the council for a ‘critical meeting.’
“We condemn it (killings) in its totality and especially looking at it from the point of view that last year in the same location this kind of thing took place. We are very concerned about that.
“Our duty is to work with the security forces to ensure that the perpetrators are followed up and hunted down. They must face justice, and maybe from this incident we might also get a clue as to what happened last year and some other incidents of security breaches”, the governor said.
He added that he had already sent the Deputy Governor of the state, who incidentally is from the area, which he noted helped to douse the tension and apprehension following the attack.
“The commander of Operation Delta Safe, Admiral Okojie was himself on ground and I want to thank him and his officers for the various steps they took to assure the law abiding people of their safety.
“I want to use this opportunity to call for calm in that area and ask the leaders at various levels to spend more time in their domain and communities so that they can be on top of this kind of development and to liaise with security agencies and government,” Dickson said.
The governor called on all the citizens to be at peace and go about their normal lives, stressing that the innocent and law abiding people have nothing to fear.
Recalling why he recently appointed a member of the opposition in the state to oversee the security in the waterways, Dickson advised his opponents and the federal not to play politics with the lives of the people.
“Bayelsa State is relatively peaceful, and we do not play politics with the security of this state. Most of you were shocked when I appointed a chieftain of APC, Gen. Afrikanus as the Chairman of the Waterways security committee.
“He and his team were carefully selected, they know the terrain and already their work is showing results which I cannot publicly say. I have always called on federal officials not to play politics with security when they come to Bayelsa.
“Political disagreements are normal, but one thing we must all agree on is security of lives and property, maintenance of law and order and working to ensure that our country does not suffer any security concerns in Bayelsa,” he noted.
