The Bayelsa State Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for Saturday’s election, Chief David Lyon, has called on security agencies in charge of the poll to stop the ongoing movement of thugs into the state.
Lyon in a statement signed by his Media Aide, Chief Gift Ebiki, said he had it on good authority that thugs from neighbouring states were arriving Yenagoa, the state capital, following the orders of some leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Ebiki said their investigations revealed that the thugs would be deployed in communities and creeks across the state to perpetrate violence and disrupt the election.
Specifically, he said in Ekeremor, the thugs had been handed over to an ex-militant leader in Clough Creek area and a top government official while the miscreants were handed over to a notable lawmaker and an elected local government official in Southern Ijaw.
“In Ogbia, the thugs are to work with a known local government official and a lawmaker”, he said.
He said the thugs had been handed over weapons including AK47 rifles and would be kitted in military and police fatigue to confuse security arrangement for the poll.
Ebiki said the plan of the PDP was to create atmosphere of insecurity in the strongholds of the APC to prevent people from coming out to cast their votes so as to record low voter turnout in such areas.
He said areas marked for deployment of thugs by the state ruling party were Nembe, Brass, Ogbia, some parts of Yenagoa and Southern local government areas.
He said: “We are using this opportunity to call on security agencies to up their game and secure the electoral process against the planned violence by the PDP.
“The PDP has seen that it stands no chance to win this election. It has tried its first evil strategy by shopping for court judgements to deny the APC from partaking in the poll.
“Having seen that the first strategy of procuring court judgements is dead on arrival, they have activated their next strategy of resorting to violence. Their thugs have started arriving Bayelsa from neighbouring states and they will be deployed in APC strongholds to create atmosphere of insecurity and prevent people from coming out.
“Their approach like they did before is to start shooting early in the morning during accreditation and voting and to sustain such fun duel for a reasonable part of the day.
“We are asking security agencies to be at alert, fish out these thugs, seize their weapons to allow a proper democratic process to take place on Saturday. Bayelsans yearn for change. And they believe in the candidacy of our party to bring the desired change. The APC is currently a mass movement and nothing can truncate this will of the people”.
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