The Opu-Nembe Council of Chiefs has raised the alarm over an alleged plot by the Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to return the reign of terror to the local government area ahead of the forthcoming governorship election.
The council, in a statement signed by its Chairman, Yusuo Theo-Iruo, said the governor and the party were planning to invade and overrun Nembe with their thugs and militants using a scheduled campaign as a cover.
The council alleged that known armed men, cultists and terrorists, who fled the communities when the Inspector-General of Police SWAT’s team entered the community for a peace mission, were being readied by PDP for a comeback to unleash violence on the people ahead of the poll.
Theo-Iruo said Nembe had been peaceful since IGP’s team liberated the area from the shackles of violence and that they would not stand akimbo and watch any desperate candidate, using the people as cannon fodder for election victory.
The council in its statement said: “We are reliably informed of a sinister plot to reintroduce thugs and militant elements into Opu Nembe during the planned ‘Campaign’ of the PDP in Nembe. The campaign is to serve as a cover for the invasion of Opu Nembe.
“These armed men, some of whom were the characters which terrorized, maimed and ripped the humanity off our people were the same elements expelled from Nembe when the Inspector General of Police’s SWAT team bravely liberated Nembe.
“Nembe is now just getting back to normal after two years of bondage in the hands of renegades under the sponsorship of the State government.
While we cannot express our joy of the peace our communities and people currently enjoy, we do so still with some modesty bearing in mind the steep, expensive journey that brought us here.
“We state categorically that we will resist and condemn any move to get pseudo-security men into Nembe to cause destabilization just to favour any of the parties contesting the imminent Gubernatorial elections in the state.
“The lives of our people, the intellectual tranquility of our towns, the sanity of our children and the resourcefulness of our women cannot be gambled with on the table of ghoulish ambitions.
“The IGP’s team, which liberated us and has kept the peace thus far, is on ground and life has returned to Nembe. Peace has been restored and markets are filled up. What we say is never again and that this peace which is originally quintessential of our great people, must remain”.
In a response to the allegations, the Chief Press Secretary to the Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, told DAILY POST that Governor Douye Diri has suspended all chieftaincy and youth activities in the Bassambiri community until further notice.
The statement continued, “The purpose is to stabilise the security situation in the area. So the so-called Opu-Nembe Council of Chiefs is not recognised by the state government at the moment and it will not join issues with an illegal body”
But ask them how the alleged armed men, cultists, thugs, militants or terrorists that they claim are known and are wanted can successfully invade or unleash mayhem in a community that has the presence of the police SWAT team on ground. Does this make any sense?
This false alarm is the hand of Esau but the voice of Jacob. Somebody is again crying wolf where there is none. Perhaps they are the ones planning to attack PDP members and supporters during their campaign in the community as they did in November 2019.