ODAHIEKWU OGUNDE, Yenagoa
Bayelsa State Government is at daggers drawn with the state’s All Progressives Congress (APC) over the party’s claims of rising cases of violent crimes and insecurity in some parts of the state.
The APC Publicity Secretary in Sagbama Local Government Area, Comrade Preye Bagou, had in a statement on Tuesday expressed serious concern over the rising cases of insecurity in the state in the past months.
Bagou said the noticeable violent crimes in the state ranged from the abduction of elderly men and women to the brutal killings of young well-meaning Bayelsa people under the watch of Governor Douye Diri.
Reacting to the claims, the state government, through the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Governor, Mr Daniel Alabra, described the claim by the APC’s chapter in Sagbama LGA as another suspicious utterances to play politics with the lives of the people.
Alabrah, who boasted that Bayelsa remains one of the safest state in the country, warned those behind the false claims to desist from such unguarded utterances in order not to incur the wrath of the people.
Describing the APC’s claims as laughable and suspicious, Alabrah contended: “Do they want Bayelsans to suspect their motive or suspect them to be planning to instigate insecurity. Bayelsans will start looking at the party in that direction.They should not use Bayelsa people for politics.
“Because the APC has nothing to talk about, they are talking about a state that is very peaceful. They shouldn’t provoke Bayelsa people to anger. We need to educate them. Why are they not talking about the states in the North? They should not use Bayelsa to play politics. Bayelsa is safe and it’s the safest among all states of the federation. Governor Douye Diri is keeping Bayelsa safe.
“Instead of talking about state that is safe, they should start asking President Muhammadu Buhari why his state, Katsina, is not safe. Have they criticized the President for being unable to keep the states in the North safe?
“We are warning them not to do anything that will instigate insecurity in the state. Instead, they should join hands with the state government to continue keeping the state safer. We are not saying those things don’t happen but they are few.”