Bayelsa Guber Poll: Governor Dickson Vows To Bring The Perpetrator of Electoral Violence To Book

The Governor of Bayelsa State, Seriake Dickson, has vowed to bring the full weight of the law on all those found to have played a role in the electoral violence that marred the conduct of the governorship election in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area and other parts of the state on December 5 and 6, 2015 regardless of party affiliations.

Dickson, who expressed dismay over the handling of the issue by the relevant security agencies, said that persons alleged to have killed and maimed during the exercise, were yet to be arrested and charged to court.

Speaking on a live radio interview programme monitored in Yenagoa, the state capital, governor expressed concern that while some were already facing prosecution, others were moving about freely.

Dickson noted that prior to the conduct of the governorship election, the state government had raised alarm over the increase in criminal activities, which he attributed to the desperation of some governorship candidates in the state.

According to him, there was a relationship between the tempo in governorship election and rise in criminal activities as people hid under the garb of politics to carry out crime and other related vices.

“Everyone knows what we have been able to achieve in the area of law and order. This is not just me or the government or security agencies observing, but it is an account that everybody, who is a Bayelsan will tell you, that the moment the presidential election was concluded and the other party became victorious, elements who were on the other side developed governorship ambitions and that immediately impacted on the security and law and order of the state.

“The conduct of their primaries was characterized by violence. Once there is a lapse in enforcement of law and order and once people take the law for granted, people hide under the garb of politics to procure arms and ammunition as part of their election preparations”, he said. [BAYSG]