Sylva and Dickson
Residents of the Southern Ijaw local council of Bayelsa state have started fleeing to neighbouring states ahead of the rescheduled governorship election in the area which is held tomorrow.
This is as a result of the magnitude of violence that took place during the December 5 election.
The Guardian reports that many are scared that the violence will be much worse even than previously, and that security forces deployed in the area will not be able to control it.
People are not impressed with assurances by the security agencies, which include the police and military, that they will protect property and lives in the area.
One of the residents said: “What can 5,000 policemen do? With the kind of weapons in the area, the policemen would all run for their lives when the shooting starts. Some of the policemen would come with batons and most would be unarmed. Do you think this is a kindergarten stuff?
“We are talking about a full-scale war with all the attendant side effects that come with it. We don’t even believe there will be any election on Saturday. Starting from Friday (today) evening, there will be shootings and killings, all over the place. Who will come out to vote on Saturday?
“How many people do you see here coming from outside this area? You are the only one, I have seen. You said you were a journalist? Well, I admire your guts, but if you know what is good for you, you had better go back, or will they pay for your dead body in Lagos?”
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Another resident said with the way that arms and ammunition and numerous strange and unsavoury characters have invaded the area, he doubts the security agencies will be able to guarantee the people’s safety.
Ebi Doupola, a teacher and resident of Okporoma in Southern Ijaw said: “It will be foolhardy for anybody to take the assurances of the police and the other security agencies’ capability to secure the lives and property of those of us in those communities, hook, line and sinker.
“We have seen what these people have brought into the communities, we know the capability of their weapons and we know the ability of those people who brought these weapons, not only to deploy them, but also their willingness to use them at the slightest provocation, or should I say, opportunity. These people are desperate and deadly and they would use these weapons tomorrow. Forget about what anybody tells you, we know what is happening here and what will happen at the end of the day,” he said.
Public transport operators in the area said they are making brisk business moving people out of the area. The operators said people were anxious to leave.
Some residents accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) of importing thugs into the area.
A former local council official said: “We have six of the major militant commanders from the local council. They are almost equally divided along party lines and because of the fact that the winner here on Saturday will be the eventual winner of the state governorship election, they are all bent on outdoing each other to ensure victory for their camps.”
However, some other residents are optimistic that the election will be peaceful. Some said there has always been talk of war every time there is an election in the area, but they are always held and the talk turned out to be a false alarm or at best grossly magnified.
Meanwhile, the executive secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof. Ben Amgwe said that any military officer or any other security personnel found wanting during the Bayelsa rerun election will be punished according to the law.
He assured that the commission would be in the state to monitor the election and the conduct of security agencies.
As if confirming the fears of the residents, the speaker of the state House of Assembly, Konbowei Benson, was yesterday reportedly attacked in Korokorosie in Southern Ijaw area. Benson claimed that suspected members of the opposition threw dynamite that destroyed part of his house.
Also, Beinmo Jonah, a brother of the Bayelsa state deputy governor reportedly narrowly escaped death after being attacked in his home. Thugs suspected to be working for the opposition party, the APC, invaded his residence in Ekeki, Yenagoa local government area of the state, leaving him unconscious.
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