A socio-political organisation, Ijaw Young Professionals in Bayelsa State has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of masterminding the recent attack on military men in Nembe in which four soldiers and a mobile policeman were reportedly killed.
The IYP described the attack as part of a plot allegedly being used a former governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva and APC to create a sense of insecurity in the state ahead of the December 5 governorship elections.
A statement issued on Saturday in Yenagoa by the Spokesperson of the organisation, Seighfa Tonye-Brown, alleged that the yet to be identified gun men had attacked the military personnel at about 12 midnight on Thursday, killed the four men in uniform and collected their rifles.
He also claimed the gun men removed four machine guns from the military boats and another machine gun that was placed on duty, adding that these weapons were being collected to be used during the elections.
Tonye-Brown alleged that this latest incident was among the plans being hatched by the opposition party to unleash, between now and the election, tension and insecurity in the state in order to force the hand of President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency and possibly take over the state.
The strategy, he said, would also lead to change in the security high command in Bayelsa State as a ploy to claim that the change was necessary because of high level of violence and insecurity in the state, adding that the impending change could take place next week.
“By next week, we are well informed, that the Police Commissioner and Director of SSS will be replaced with new officers who will do the bidding of the APC in the forthcoming governorship elections”, he stated.
Brown, who called on the security agencies to take his allegations seriously, said that an APC chieftain had during the week boasted that Governor Seriake Dickson will be removed from office by all means, noting that the opposition party had perfected strategies to carry out the plot to remove the governor by resorting to violence to achieve its objective.
“Already, this attack on the military men is a clear pointer to the execution of the evil plot and we are reliably informed that more sinister actions are on the way”, he alleged.
He, however, assured Bayelsans that, given the strong security architecture in place in the state, the Dickson-led government has sworn to deal with any security threat.
The group also called on President Muhammadu Buhari not to be drawn into the Sylva-led APC antics, stating that violence has been the opposition leader’s stock in trade.
“To former governor, Timipre Sylva, violence is a normal way of life. The resort to violence as the only means of winning elections in this state is no longer fashionable. The people of the only Ijaw state say no to violence. We reject APC and its brand of violent politics. Their hope that with increased violence and insecurity will force Buhari to declare a state of emergency in Bayelsa State has failed”, he declared.
But Sylva who spoke through Doifie Buokoribo, his Media Adviser has swiftly debunked the group’s claims.
The statement said “Sylva wishes to state categorically that he knows nothing whatsoever about the Nembe killings. Similarly, neither Sylva nor the APC that he leads in the state is privy to any plan to employ violence as a strategy to win the forthcoming gubernatorial election in the state.
“Sylva notes further that the escalation of violence in the state should be put squarely at the doorstep of the incumbent government of Mr. Henry Seriake Dickson. That government has failed woefully in securing lives and property, but instead has overtly and covertly procured and traded in violence to intimidate political opponents and any voice of reason.
“That same government has embarked on all manners of subterfuge including, facilitating of arms to non-state actors essentially to prevent the change that is imminent in Bayelsa State. It is no doubt that Sylva as the symbol of that change is the target of this schizoid propaganda by faceless groups, paid and unpaid writers, and political jobbers.
According to Buokoribo,” Sylva is unperturbed. Sylva abhors violence. He has never promoted violence under any guise. He only represents the voice of millions of Bayelsa people seeking change in the affairs of the state, a change to the gross ineptitude, pathetic profligacy and grand larceny of Mr. Henry Seriake Dickson.
Sylva called on the Inspector General of Police to order an immediate investigation of the Nembe killings, and most particularly those behind the “Ijaw Young Professionals in Bayelsa State”.
