Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, has urged the Federal Government to identify and prosecute the security operatives involved in the killing of Ijaw people in Rivers and Bayelsa states, and elsewhere, during the last elections.
He said the murder of innocent people, in the guise of providing security in an election in peace-loving Ijaw communities of Bayelsa and Rivers was undeserved and, indeed, unacceptable.
Dickson made the call during a condolence visit to the Amayanabo of Kalabari Kingdom, King Theophilus Princewill, Amachree XI, over the alleged killing of 38 indigenes of Abonnema and two others in Buguma, Rivers State, by soldiers, during the February 23, presidential and National Assembly elections.
According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media Relations, Fidelis Soriwei, the governor said: “The Federal Government needs to identify and bring to book all the soldiers who carried out the dastardly murder in Abonnema and other places in Kalabari Kingdom, in Rivers State, as well as those who killed and maimed and destroyed property in Bayelsa State and other Ijaw communities. We, the Ijaw people are a peace-loving people and don’t deserve the assault.”
He condemned, in strong terms, the attitude of some politicians who allegedly deploy their supposed federal links to the detriment of the people.
He also urged Ijaw sons and daughters from the Niger Delta region who claim to have federal support, to use their contacts to accelerate development and promote peace and stability in the region.
In his remarks, the Amayanabo of Kalabari Kingdom, King Princewill, Amachree XI, thanked governor Dickson and his entourage for the condolence visit, which he described as timely and wise.
He expressed sadness over the killings and wanton destruction of property by soldiers, not only in his kingdom, but, also, in the entire Ijawland, and prayed against a reoccurrence.
In a related development, Dickson has appealed to the federal government for help following the landslide that destroyed houses and property in Odi Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area of the state.