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Not a few residents of Bayelsa state have expressed concern over the alleged unprofessional conduct of the men of the Nigerian Army in the ongoing Bayelsa state governorship election.
Beside Governor Seriake Dickson who had earlier raised the alarm over the impunity and brigandage visited on Bayelsans by the Nigerian Army and other security agencies deployed to the state, many residents of the state are outraged over seeming plot to sabotage the electoral process or unfairly tilt the outcome in favour of a pre-determined winner.
A statement by a resident of Yenogoa, the Bayelsa state capital, Mr. Green Ogbebor which was made available to crimefacts.news electronically suggest that there may be a premeditated plot to use security forces to subvert the will of the people of Bayelsa state.
His statement read in part: “Military personnel attached to 6th Division in PortHarcourt under the command of Major General Sarham and Colonel Wase came into Bayelsa from yesterday evening and were drafted across the state where they disrupted voting and abducted party officials. In Ekeremor, they took away Hon Pius Jonah and he is yet to be seen as at now and also shot sporadically in Ekeowe in Southern Ijaw LGA. They have also proceeded to the (RAC) collation centres where collation may take place and with what happened in Rivers State in the last election, we are worried about the potential loss of lives in the various LGA’s across the state.”
However efforts to reach the Commander of the 6th Division was unfruitful but an Army source who craved anonymity as he was not authorized to talk about the role of the Army in the Bayelsa state governorship election said the allegation may just be a rehashed hearsay, as the military was briefed and mandated to operate within their professional boundaries.
“When elections go bad, it is easy to blame the security forces. I am sure the Army will do their best to stem the tide of violence in Bayelsa state election. Remember it is still the same Army they commended for coming to the rescue of the people in Nembe, when a rally was attacked by armed hoodlums”.
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