Gov Dickson, Sylva throw punches over spate of mindless killings in Bayelsa

Criminal activities in Bayelsa State which had recently led to the killings of several people have set the state Governor Seriake Dickson and his predecessor, Timipre Sylva, against each other, with both politicians accusing each other of being responsible for the menace.
Sad with the development in the state, Dickson in a statement signed by his Commissioner for Information, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to warn the Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, and Sylva, who is a leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, to desist from sponsoring killings and destabilizing peace in Bayelsa.

The statement quoted Dickson as making the claim when he spoke at the monthly ‘transparency briefing’ in Yenagoa on Thursday.

“I want to call on political leaders of Bayelsa to stop destabilizing and playing politics with law and order in our communities. They should stop what they are doing in camping criminals and terrorists.

“I have issued statements before calling on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to call his party leaders in this state to order, especially his Minister for State, Heineken Lokpobiri, who is the one that has armed and equipped the people that have subjected communities to this level of insecurity.

“All the guns and equipment they have been been using to terrorize the people are provided by Lokpobiri. I have evidence that by the 3rd of January, this Kareowei and his killers from Ekeremor were celebrating together.

“Bayelsa remains one of the safest in the country in spite of the nefarious acts being sponsored by some characters. Even the incident that took place at Ekeremor happened in Delta. The military operation came from Warri. Bayelsa is general peaceful, we are doing our best.

“Thank God that I am leading the team, I call on the community and youth leaders not to join them. Once those boys they use are arrested, they spend money to silence them to cover their tracks. They will only use you and abandon you. They don’t use their children, they use others. They create crisis for other people’s community. The media should join the sensitization.”

“We expect the FG which is in charge of the national security apparatus, I don’t believe that the president is aware, and I have issued a statement to that effect that he should take charge, these guys are working with some elements in Abuja.”

In a fierce response, Sylva said that Dickson ”​is sick​”​ in a statement he pushed out on Friday through his media aide Doefie Buokoribo.

​“​Governor Henry Seriake Dickson ​is​ at it again. He has returned to his notorious game of accusing the former governor, Chief Timipre Sylva, of sponsoring criminality in Bayelsa State​.

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“This time he has joined the Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, to his list of culprits. ​As always, Dickson has provided zero facts to support his irresponsibly frivolous claims that Sylva and Lokpobiri are providing cover for alleged cultists and other criminals.

​“Dickson lied at his Thursday’s ‘Transparency’ Briefing in Yenagoa.

​“Sylva’s Media Office recalls that we have had cause in the past to accuse Governor Dickson of paranoia. Our response to this latest falsehood, especially the governor’s attempt to link Sylva with the outlaw that killed five soldiers in Ekeremor Local Government, is that Dickson needs urgent help. He is sick.

​“No amount of falsehood against Sylva will pay workers’ salaries in Bayelsa State. ​No amount of falsehood against Sylva will cover Dickson’s incompetence and cluelessness. No amount of falsehood against Sylva will protect lives and property in Bayelsa State, where Governor Dickson has elevated the ignoble act of arming and using lawless elements to intimidate the people to win elections to state policy, as the whole world saw in the last governorship polls in the state.”

 

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