Governorship Poll: Violence as Bayelsa Finally Decides

PDP, APC trade allegations

Barely a few hours to today’s supplementary/re-run governorship election in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area and 101 other polling units in six other local government councils in Bayelsa State, the affected communities have been turned into battle grounds by the contending parties in the election.

For most of yesterday, violence raged in Ekeremor and Oporoma as supporters of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) engaged themselves in brutal battles.

The entire waterways leading to Southern Ijaw LG, the area considered the battle zone of the election that will determine the fate of the two leading contenders in the election – Governor Seriake Dickson and his predecessor, Timipre Sylva have been blocked by militants.

Events leading to today’s election suggest a bloody day in the creeks as the foot soldiers have suffered bloodied noses. PDP members and their

relations have been attacked and kidnapped.

The first person to suffer collateral damage is Dickson as his sister was kidnapped. Before he could react, his commissioner for local government affairs was picked up by the dare devil kidnappers the next day.

This was all before the yuletide holiday period.

As the New Year dawn, the family of the Deputy Governor, Adm. John Jonah cried out that his immediate junior brother had been brutally attacked by unknown persons in his Yenagoa home, leaving him unconscious and lying critically at an undisclosed hospital in the state capital.

The same day, the country home of the Speaker of the State House of Assembly was attacked and destroyed with dynamite by people who invaded his Korokorosei home, in the early hours of last Thursday.

That was after Peremabiri community, where Dickson is believed to have his greatest sympathy was attacked in a broad day light operation. Low turnout expected today… Because of the ongoing violence in communities voting today, the turnout is expected to be very low, as people are fleeing the areas.

Over 80 per cent of militants and militant groups in the state come from the Southern Ijaw LGA.

Besides, the local government is 100 percent in the creeks and waterways. Worse still, it is the most inaccessible LGA in the country as some communities are over four hours boat ride from Yenagoa, while others are island on the Atlantic Ocean.

Boat ride to the nearest Southern Ijaw LGA community cost nothing less than N1000 in normal times.

Meanwhile, there are about 120,000 registered voters in Southern Ijaw Local Government. Dickson is leading with over 33,000 votes from the December election.

Thugs machete Ex-Assembly Speaker, Council Chairman…

The theatre of war yesterday was Ekeremor where PDP stalwarts including the former Speaker of the State House of Assembly and one time chairman of the board of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Boyelayefa Debekeme and the Chairman of the Ekeremor Local Government Council, Billy Tobiye were reportedly badly injured.

Besides, the Ward Agent of the PDP and Secretary of the Local Government, Tams Alari and Traditional ruler of Ekeremor, HRH Agbodo Gbaseimo were also injured in the bloody battle.

Already, supporters of the PDP are said to have lost out in the battle to take over Ekeremor as they were said to have been forced out by the APC warriors.

All this is happening even as INEC confirmed that all materials for the election had arrived safely in all areas where the election will take place today.

The troubled Ekeremor Local Government area is the home town and LGA of the Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken Lokpobri and has over 13,000 votes to be contested for by the various political parties.

Crying out after the invasion, a Government House source claimed that “the armed men were hired by the APC and that they were brandishing dangerous weapons including guns, machetes, cudgels and clearly high on hard drugs.”

According to him, “the invaders unfazed by the presence of security operatives, descended on Debekeme and others with machetes and other weapons.

Debekeme is said to have received deep machete cuts on his head and other parts of his body, while Tams Alari and Billy Tobiye were beaten to stupor by the rampaging militants who claimed to be acting the script of their master.

“The helpless policeman on duty was saved by soldiers who came to his rescue and recovered the arms from the hoodlums.

The injured former speaker is said to be receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital in Torugbene community of Ekeremor Local Government and the duo of the Council Chairmen, Billy Tobiye and Tams Alari are receiving treatment at another undisclosed hospital in Bomadi, Delta state.

Over 5000 policemen and another 4000 civil defence men have been deployed for today’s election.

APC Reaction to the Attack at Ekeremor

Meanwhile the APC has lamented what it calls “the way and manner in which the PDP has been throwing allegations at everybody concerned with the runoff election” in the state.

The party in a statement by the publicity director of the Timipre Sylva campaign organization, Chief Nathan Egba stated the PDP is afraid of imminent defeat.

He stressed that the fears by the PDP “clearly suggests fear of imminent defeat on their part. Since yesterday they have been making allegations of attack on them against the APC.

“But we know very well that it is another ploy to ensure cancellation of the elections again if they lose like the last time.”

PDP Accuse Buhari, APC of Desperation to Win…

Meanwhile, the PDP yesterday raised the alarm that today's governorship election in Southern Ijaw “is a mere formality as the APC has concluded plans to rig the election in its favour.”

PDP alleged that APC in conjunction with military, police and INEC had already written the result of the election.

In a statement by the Acting National Chairman of PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, the party said that from intelligence report, “the APC government has already written the results ahead of the election.”

He called on international community to be aware of this plot of the APC controlled Federal Government to win the Bayelsa state governorship election at all cost, warning that this has the consequences of hurting the nascent democracy in Nigeria.

Secondus said that Nigerians and the global community should hold the APC responsible should anything happen to democracy in the country because of APC’s quest to turn Nigeria into a one party state.

He further warned that it was this quest of winning at all cost that was responsible for the collapse of the Second Republic.