24th December, 2015
Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
of Bayelsa State
Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa state has vowed that the full weight of the law would be brought to bear on all those that are fingered, regardless of party lines, to be responsible for the electoral violence that marred the conduct of the election in Southern Ijaw local government and other parts of the state on December 5 and 6, 2015.
The governor expressed dismay over the way the issue was handled by the relevant security agencies, noting that, such people alleged to have killed and maimed in Brass local government were yet to be arrested and charged to court.
Dickson who bared his thought while speaking in a live radio and television interview programme, on Wednesday, in Yenagoa, Governor Dickson lamented that, while some are already facing prosecution, others were going about freely, which has a direct bearing on the security of the state.
He said prior to the conduct of the governorship election, the state government had raised the alarm over the upsurge in criminal activities, which he attributed to the desperation of some governorship candidates in the state.
According to Governor Dickson, there is a correlation between the tempo in governorship election and rise in criminal activities and people hide under the garb of politics to perpetrate crime and other related vices.
“Everyone knows what we have been able to achieve in the area of law and order. This is not just me or the government or security agencies observing, but it is an account that everybody, who is a Bayelsan will tell you that, the moment the presidential elections were concluded and the other party became victorious, elements who are on the other side developed governorship ambitions and that immediately impacted on the security and law and order of the state.
“The conduct of their primaries was characterized by violence. Once there is a lapse in enforcement of law and order and once people take the law for granted, people hide under the garb of politics to procure arms and ammunition as part of their election preparations. We all witnesses the moment the presidential election was concluded and the other party became victorious some persons developed governorship ambition and that immediately impacted on the security and law and order of the state.
“Once there is a lapse in enforcement and once people take the law for granted people hide under the garb of politics and electioneering to procure arms and ammunition as part of the election preparations. The mayhem in Brass, southern Ijaw and Ekeremor and all of it was a build up in arms. And what has worsened it in Bayelsa State and in this country is that up till now is that those who killed and maimed in Brass and even destroyed other people’s houses have not yet been arrested, interrogated or charged to court.
“Those who killed and maimed in Southern Ijaw are still going about freely and are even protected by the agents of state and that is the situation of things that we have come to see in the past couple of months and that of course has a direct bearing on criminal conduct because if crime is not punished, then the law looses its deterrence and then society gradually deteriorates to a situation where life become short, nasty and brutish.”
The Governor said”I will ensure that by the grace of God, my dear Bayelsans, himself (Sylva)and all those who are culprits would be brought to book at the end of this exercise, because nobody can subject our state to bad press and anguish and go scot-free. If he is serious, he should be talking to voters because it is their votes that will matter and not hoodlums carrying guns and hijacking of materials.