Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The governorship candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Hon David Lyon has called the attention of security agencies to movement of arms and armed thugs into the state.
Lyon in a statement signed by his Media Aide, Chief Gift Ebiki, said intelligence reports available to him and the party indicated that thugs have been imported into Bayelsa from two neighbouring states on the directive of some chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
According to him intelligence reports gathered the thugs are being mobilized to be deployed to communities and creeks across the state to perpetrate violence and disrupt the election.
He listed the local government areas pencilled down for deployment to include Ekeremor, where the thugs are to be under the command of an ex-militant leader in Clough Creek area and a top government official; in Southern Ijaw while the miscreants were handed over to a notable lawmaker and an elected local government official; in Ogbia, the thugs are to work with a known local government official and a lawmaker.
Ebiki listed other local government areas marked for thugs deployment to include Nembe , Brass and parts of Yenagoa.
According to him the plan of the PDP was to create atmosphere of insecurity in the strongholds of the APC to prevent people from coming out to cast their votes so as to record low voter turnout in such areas.
The statement read in part “We are using this opportunity to call on security agencies to up their game and secure the electoral process against the planned violence by the PDP. The PDP has seen that it stands no chance to win this election. It has tried its first evil strategy by shopping for court judgements to deny the APC from partaking in the poll. Having seen that the first strategy of procuring court judgements is dead on arrival, they have activated their next strategy of resorting to violence. Their thugs have started arriving Bayelsa from neighbouring states and they will be deployed in APC strongholds to create atmosphere of insecurity and prevent people from coming out. Their approach like they did before is to start shooting early in the morning during accreditation and voting and to sustain such gun duel for a reasonable part of the day. We are asking security agencies to be at alert, fish out these thugs, seize their weapons to allow a proper democratic process to take place on Saturday. Bayelsans yearn for change. And they believe in the candidacy of our party to bring the desired change. The APC is currently a mass movement and nothing can truncate this will of the people”.