Bayelsa Concerned Youths Warn Pro-Wike Group over  Provocative Comments, Actions

Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa

Youth leaders under the auspices of Concern Youths of Bayelsa State have warned the pro-Wike group, the NEW Associates, led by Mr. George Turner to desist from comments and inordinate actions that may undermine the existing peace in the state.

The NEW Associates is the initials of the names of the Minister of Federal Capital, FCT Abuja and former Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike.

Recalled that the Bayelsa State chapter of NEW Associates was formally inaugurated amid nearby shootings in Yenagoa last weekend during a rally to appreciate President Bola Tinubu for appointing indigenes of state into positions of authority.

The youth leaders drawn from all the eight local government areas of the state, at a press briefing on Tuesday, regretted that the deliberate act by the group to sow seeds of disunity is not only painting the state in a negative light but also attempting to de-market the state with a view to undermining the efforts of daily engendering peace in the state which ranks very high in this regard owing to the conscious efforts of Governor Douye Diri.

The Concerned Youth Leaders in the speech read by the Coordinator, Mr Tony Ile, warned the group to desist from been used as instruments of chaos to destabilize the state, and urge youths in the state to be mindful of them, their group and its antics.

They said: “We wish to therefore express our admiration of Governor Douye Diri bridge building disposition which has made Bayelsans not just politically tolerant but has also led to leaders pursuing a common goal in the interest of our collective development in spite of political party affiliations.

“It is, however, regrettable to note that some misguided and disgruntled people have in recent weeks under the auspices of a group called ‘the New Associates’ with their activities tried to disturb the peace of our dear state. As concerned youths, we wish to use this briefing to sound a note of warning to Mr. George Turner and his co-travelers, and urge them to stop forthwith or take their divisive tendencies to shores far away from our peaceful land of Bayelsa State.

“We wish to use this medium to also caution the former spokesman of the jaw Youth Council (IYC), over his disrespectful and reckless remarks about the person of Governor Diri and his government on issues of allegedly sending gunmen to disrupt their mushroom gathering.

“The youths of Bayelsa State wish to state that going forward, they will not condone such oral diarrhea and road-side lies which is a mere figment of the imagination of a man coming from fools and dreamers island against the Governor of the jaw nation and that such incessant insults on our father or any other leader by these political neophytes and jobbers will be confronted and resisted by every lawful means.

“ljaw youths will no longer sit, watch or fold their arms and look at these relevance seekers drag our governor or his government’s name to the mud because of the peanut motivated rallies or gatherings that they wish to have or hold. Enough is enough!”

Also speaking, a youth leader from Ogbia Local Government Area, Mr. Joshua Amangala, said: “What they did was a charade and it is highly condemnable, it is not something anybody should be proud about, a handful of dissidents have decided to be harmful, running errands for people in strange places knowing that these persons and what they worship is a god of mammon and that god of mammon the interest is power and relevant.

“For us as youths of Bayelsa State, politically, we feel they are not relevant and Bayelsa State should not give them any attention as they are interested in stomach infrastructure, they are seeking attention, they are not doing anything because of Bayelsa State but to satisfy their pocket, and as Bayelsa youths, we are saying no, what they did was an arrangement to cause chaos and pretend like they know nothing but they are the ones that have orchestrated it.

“We are saying no to violence. The governor is a peaceful man, and as youths we have said going forward, if they continue in this bastardisation Bayelsa State will rise up and take them back to where they belong.”