Polls: Bayelsa monarch demands security beef up

The Chairman of Nembe City Council of Chiefs in Bayelsa State, Chief Bright Ereware-Igbeta, has called on the government to beef up security in and around the city to checkmate the movement of persons with criminal intentions into the community ahead of Saturday’s elections.

The monarch, while speaking during a meeting between the Bayelsa State Deputy Governor, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, and Nembe City Council of Chiefs at the Government House, Yenagoa, expressed concerns over threats to peaceful coexistence in the area allegedly being orchestrated by youths from a neighbouring community.

Daily Trust earlier reported that armed men invaded the community during the build up to the February 25, presidential and National Assembly elections, where four youths were shot dead.

Mr Doubara Atasi, media aide to the deputy governor, in a statement on Thursday, however, quoted the monarch as saying the peaceful election experienced during the presidential election was achieved through the signing and adherence to a peace accord by candidates of the various political parties in the area.

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Speaking during the meeting, Ewhrudjakpo urged the chiefs and people of the area to create a level-playing ground for all political parties and their candidates to ensure peaceful elections.

He challenged the people of the ancient Nembe Kingdom to proudly defend their place in history as part of the earliest people that first embraced education and civilisation in sub-Saharan Africa.

He said, “The Houses of Assembly elections are more localised, as there is no unification of interests. We expect this, and it is natural. We solicit your cooperation in this area for a very peaceful outcome like we had on February 25.

“The Nembe people are among the most civilised in this part of the world, particularly in the Niger Delta. And so we expect that much of what you do will not be as primitive as what some other people do as people who are just coming to the light.”