Dickson’s Ex-commissioner Shot Dead in Yenagoa

Emmanuel Addeh

Suspected gunmen have shot dead Mr Ayekeme Masa, a former Bayelsa Commissioner for Investment, Trade and Industry in the state.

The deceased, it was learnt, was an aide to Governor Seriake Dickson during his first tenure and had also been in private business after the expiration of that administration.

Masa, who until his demise, was also the Rector of the Institute of Entrepreneurship Studies in the state was shot under circumstances yet to be unravelled by the security agencies operating in the state.

The shooting and death of the former commissioner comes a few days after a reporter with African Independent Television (AIT) attached to the state Government House was also shot by suspected armed robbers while returning from the church. She is currently recovering in one of the hospitals in the state capital.

Masa, a 64-year-old father of three, was reportedly killed in the early hours of Monday in his residence behind the popular Bolex lounge and night club in Yenagoa.

It was yet unclear the motive behind his killing, but it was gathered that the former Dickson’s aide walked into his assailants already having an argument inside the house with his wife when he came in.

”When he arrived home, he walked into the argument between his wife and the unknown gunmen. He tried to escape from the building before he was shot,” a source said.

One of the security men on duty in his house said he heard the shots and came out of his cubicle to meet the seriously injured body of his boss outside the gate.

The deceased was said to have been rushed to the Federal Medical Centre in the city centre where he died on Monday evening as a result of the injuries he sustained from the gunshots.

The spokesman of the Bayelsa State Police Command, Asinim Butswat, confirmed the incident.

He said the team of policemen from the command had visited the scene of the crime, noting that investigation had already begun.