THERE are some serious security concerns in the Niger Delta axis of Nigeria, ahead of the Bayelsa State governorship election, later this February.
This is coming as former Governor Timipre Sylva, claimed last week that his Ijaw kinsman and Nigeria President, Goodluck Jonathan, has been stealthily subverting democracy in parts of the country.
Bayelsa is one of the most volatile states in the troubled oil region. In 2007, unidentified armed youths bombed the president’s village residencea group, the Niger Delta Indigenous Movement for Radical Chang (NDIMRC) has warned politicians not to turn the state into a battle field, saying the man who will emerge as Governor must deliver or be ready for a mass revolt.
Nelly Emma, leader of the group, told AkanimoReports on Tuesday that they have resolved to rise against power seekers who resort to use of violence to get into public office.
John Sailor, the group Secretary, had earlier in a press briefing in Warri, the commercial hub of Delta State, warned politicians against the use of violence to get into power.
The group claimed that the use of violence was ”an old thing” in Bayelsa politics and accordingly implored those in the state’s governorship race to caution their followers against engaging in violence.
”We are in support of democracy and good governance and this is why we are appealing to all those in the Bayelsa state governorship race to play the game by the rule. There should be no violence. Our politicians must not see the election as a do or die affair. They must not turn the state into a battle field as we will not accept this”, the group said.
”The person who is going to emerge as the governor of Bayelsa must spread development to all parts of the state. This is so because the state is still crying for development several years after its creation. The governor cannot afford to fail the people.”
For the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), they have some words for them: ”Allow the will of the people to prevail in the Bayelsa governorship election. The common man has suffered for too long in the Niger Delta region”.
