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Uche Usim, Abuja
Following the violence that has characterised the gubernatorial campaigns in Bayelsa State, the John Pofi Foundation, the United States Nigeria Law Group (USNLG) and the Coalition of Civil Society Groups for Electoral Integrity has demanded for the prosecution of the sponsors of election violence in the state.
The groups, in a statement signed by
Reverend John Pofi, the President, John Pofi Foundation, have also urged the United States of America and the United Kingdom governments to slam a travel visa ban on the unscrupulous politicians, who have sponsored, incited or executed violence in previous or the forthcoming Bayelsa State elections.
Pofi said: “This call became necessary, having observed events of the past few weeks, leading to the governorship election in the state on Saturday. Our worries are based on the previous experience and the inability of the security agencies to arrest the situation.
“We are seriously doubtful of the capacity of these security agencies to arrest the next round of terror that may be instigated by these same set of politicians, who have been going about, inciting violence across the communities in the State, while also recruiting militias to disrupt elections.
“For the purpose of clarity, this coalition is presently engaged in a series of pre-election activities in Bayelsa State, and our focus at this moment is based on our earlier experience during the assessment of the 2015, 2016 and 2019 elections in Bayelsa and the unprecedented level of violence witnessed in certain communities during the said period. It is fundamental at this time to remind the world that elections in some parts of Bayelsa have witnessed an unimaginable level of violence, sponsored by identified persons and unleashed on the innocent people of the state,leading to the death of many, with property destroyed.
“It is therefore alarming that despite witnessing at least three major seasons of violent attacks and violation of the fundamental rights of these innocent Nigerians, stakeholders including INEC, the federal government, the Bayelsa State government and other relevant security agencies have not acted on the report that detailed the atrocities and extreme right violations witnessed during the elections.
“As we speak, none of these perpetrators has been arrested or prosecuted, hence our call to the government of United States and the United Kingdom to impose a Visa ban on these known sponsors and perpetrators of violence in Bayelsa State during the elections. It may interest you to know, that various reports on election violence in Bayelsa state captured audio and visual recordings and testimonies of the victims of the violence that marred the conduct of election in Southern Ijaw, Nembe, Ekeremor, Brass and some other parts of the state during the election. Harmless citizens were molested, attacked and harassed with a lot of complicity on the part of those that ordinarily were supposed to protect the 2015/2016 governorship election and the latest being the incidents recorded during the 2019 general election remains one of the worst and under-reported cases of election violence in the history of Nigeria. Many citizens were murdered, scores hospitalized with gunshot and machete injuries. Property worth billions of naira were looted, vandalized and burnt,”the statement read in part.
According to the statement, since that very unfortunate incidence, the people of Peremabiri community in Bayelsa have since January 2016 become Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in their own state.” Till date, the people of Peremabiri remains under the hostage of criminal elements mainly sponsored by oil pipeline surveillance contractors, funded by an oil multinational. May we at this juncture point to the likely consequence and possible outcome of the forthcoming Bayelsa Governorship election, except urgent actions are taken. During the 2019 National and States assembly elections in the state, political thugs aided by security agents invaded polling stations across the electoral wards in the Nembe-Bassambiri state constituency. Several voters,mainly women and the elderly people, were assaulted and election materials hijacked. Residents of this peaceful town were chased out of their ancestral homes to neighbouring towns as well as Yenagoa were they have remained IDPs ever since. At the end of the renewed militarization and armed banditry witnessed in 2019, several casualties were again recorded, once again in Southern Ijaw LGA, which witnessed the murder of two party agents, including Mr Reginald Dei, a photographer attached to the Bayelsa State Government House. He was allegedly killed in his bedroom by political opponents aided by men in army uniforms, who stormed his Oweikorogha community in Southern Ijaw local government area during the Presidential and National Assembly elections.
“It is instructive to bring to our remembrance the ugly incident that occurred in Twon Brass, BrassLGA on Sunday, February 24, 2019 when a serving Deputy Commissioner of Police, Kola Okunola, was abducted, brutalized and nearly killed during the elections. A member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Isreal Sunny-Goli, was identified as the mastermind of this grave incident and was arrested by the police. His punishment for this act is to seat among “Honourable members in the House of Representatives. How ironic!Till date, these wounds are yet to heal, as the people do not only feel abandoned on a daily basis,but have also come to a near conclusion that the perpetrators of electoral violence are untouchable. A narrative which we intend to change without further delay by ensuring that justice is appropriately served. Therefore, today, we are demanding that the perpetrators of these ignoble acts are made to account for their previous actions and get deterred from perpetrating same in future. We can no longer continue to reward perpetrators of crime against humanity, many of whom have found their way into government today. We are calling on lovers of democracy and the international community to beem their searchlight on persons such as Chief Timipre Sylva, Honorable SunnyGoli, Mr David Lyon, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri and militant leaders Paul Eris {GeneralOgunboss}, Africanus Akparasia {General Africa} among others. This is the only way to prevent future occurrence of such incidents as well as strengthen the nation’s democracy.
“What was witnessed in Bayelsa during the previous elections were well orchestrated attack against the people of the state. These actors are once again preparing for a repeat and the only way to checkmate it is to prosecute the perpetrators of the previous action. We hereby call on all patriotic Nigerians, leaders and members of the International community to join us as we commence this new phase of seeking justice for these victims of the senseless act of political desperation.
“We are also aware, from all available reports, that these same perpetrators are already recruiting thugs and stockpiling arms ahead of the forthcoming elections. This is indeed worrisome. Our democracy will continue to be endangered until we ensure that these desperate politicians are made to answer for their deeds. Prosecuting the perpetrators of the unprecedented violence witnessed during the 2015/2016 Bayelsa governorship election and the 2019 general elections will send a strong warning and deter others from perpetrating such in future,”the statement read in part.
Bayelsans will on Saturday, November 16, go to the polls to elect their governor for a four-year tenure.
Accordingly, the concerned groups have called for a peaceful election in the state and has read the riot act to any merchants of mischief.
Recall that a driver of Outside Broadcasting Van attached to Radio Bayelsa, Simon Onu, was killed on Wednesday during a clash between thugs of People’s Democratic Party and All Progressive Congress at a rally in Nembe Ogbolomabiri, Bayelsa State.
