The Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson has commended the efforts of the people of Amatu and Ogbolomabiri in Ekeremor and Nembe local government areas of the state in securing the release of two hostages, including a French national abducted by suspected kidnappers on Wednesday.
Governor Dickson made the commendation while reacting to the incident at Government House, Yenagoa.
He also expressed gratitude to the leaders of Bassambiri in Nembe as well as Azuzuama, Lobia 1 and 2, Koluama and Ekowe in Southern Ijaw Local Government Areas for their collaborative efforts with security agencies.
Giving a detail account of the incident, the Governor said, the chiefs and people of Ogbolomabiri community, who on suspecting the presence of kidnappers and their victim, conducted a house to house search and successfully secured the release of the victim as well alerted the police, who got the kidnappers arrested.
In Amatu community, he explained that, the boat conveying the suspected kidnappers and their victim developed a mechanical fault, which left the boat drifting along the river.
On sighting, the victim who was a white man, curious members of the community immediately alerted the state’s internal security outfit, “Operation Doo Akpo” who swung into action and got both the captors and the captive arrested.
According to him, some cohorts of the apprehended criminals went to the community for reprisal attacks, but were prevented from causing any harm by the security outfit deployed to the community by government.
The Governor, who was full of gratitude and praise for the Chiefs and people of the communities, urged other communities and stakeholders to emulate them, stressing that, such efforts if properly coordinated in collaboration with security agencies, will greatly check acts of criminality, lawlessness and other negative vices associated with the state.
Bayelsans, he stated should see security of lives and property as a collective responsibility of all, as Government and security agencies alone may not be able to achieve much without the support of the citizenry, who are even more vulnerable to the activities of criminals.
While, calling on community leaders and Bayelsans generally to report every suspicious movements and characters to security agencies by calling the “Operation Doo Akpo” Distress line on 07006464644, Governor Dickson assured such individuals and communities of adequate protection, adding that constant security has already been provided for the communities where the recent arrests were made to forestall any reprisal attacks.
“Nobody in this State, no matter where you are and what you do, should feel that matters of security are for government alone. No, you are getting it wrong. Security of your life and your property should be a collective business all the time. And, this we must do conscientiously, so that we can attract the tourists and investors of this world to also come here to invest and create jobs for our teeming youths”
The Bayelsa State Chief Executive restated Government’s resolve to support every effort geared towards making the state safe and peaceful, noting that with sustained peace, Bayelsa would soon become an investment and tourism destination.
He used the opportunity to call on youths to jettison all acts of criminality and take advantage of the various youth development, empowerment and rehabilitation programmes to reshape their lives and become more useful members of their families, communities and the state at large.
“One of the key objectives of our Restoration Agenda is to make you the youths of our great state active participants in the building and management of our economy and that is why we are initiating different programmes in various sectors, so that you people can fit in and make your contributions and also be less dependent on the next person for survival”
