Friday last week was a bloody day in Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State. The city was held spellbound in a tension-soaked encounter between ex-militants and the police. Hundreds of the former warlords threw decorum overboard and slugged it out with armed security operatives.
To most residents in Yenagoa, that Friday came like a normal day. With the spirits of “Thank God it is Friday”, workers and shop owners headed for their various business ventures without knowing that foreboding lurked around. On getting to Tombia Roundabout located along the popular Mbiama-Yenagoa Road, the bright day changed to darkness.
Hundreds of recalcitrant ex-militants carrying anti-Governor Seriake Dickson’s placards and chanting hate songs against their governor had blocked the roundabout. They disrupted traffic and held commuters and motorists hostage. The youthful vigour exuded by the ex-militant and their leaders sent fears into the spines of everybody around the area.
Shortly after the protesters took over the road and grounded traffic, patrol vehicles of armed policemen stormed the area. The more the security operatives tried to calm down the frayed nerves, the more the ex-militants became unruly.
The policemen fired teargas canisters into the crowd of protesters. The ex-militants retaliated by hurling stones and other dangerous objects at the security operatives and their vehicles. Shortly, truckloads of armed policemen arrived the area for reinforcement. The situation got out of control degenerating into a full-blown clash between the policemen and the ex-warlords.
At the end, about eight persons including a policeman were injured. Many vehicles, including a truck belonging to the police, were vandalised.
Reason for the violent protest
What was the bone of contention? The pipeline surveillance contract awarded to groups, companies and individuals in various states by the Federal Government was immediately referred to as the immediate cause of the pandemonium.
The Bayelsa State share of the contract was the reason why the ex-militants led by a former Commander of the Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), Mr. Eris Paul, popularly known as ‘General Ogunboss, took over the road and disrupted public peace.
But investigations revealed that there could be other reasons such as a sectional hatred for Dickson following sustained determination by a camp loyal to the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan that the governor should vacate office. During the protest, the ex-militant leaders were united in their chants that “Dickson must Go”.
A close aide to Dickson, who spoke in confidence, said the ex-militant leaders were sponsored by the enemies of the governor working in concert with the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan.
He said the camp of the First Lady including Abuja-based politicians had decided to use ex-militants and violent protests to destabilize the state and discredit the governor.
“They have tried many things without success. This is their next line of action but they are still going to fail”, he said.
But the ex-militant leaders insisted that the protest was borne out of the decision of the state government to drag the surveillance contract with them. The ex-militant leaders and their foot soldiers vowed to make the state too hot for Dickson unless he steers clear from the contract.
They insisted that the contract must be awarded to Bajero, a company formed with the initials of ex-militant leaders who hail from Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state. The ex-militant leaders who combined their initials to form Bajero are Victor Ebikabowei (Boyloaf), Africa Ukpariasa (General Africa), Joshua Macaiver, Eris Paul (Ogunboss), Pastor Reuben and Osei Clever.
Dickson explains
Without mincing words, Dickson called the bluff of the ex-militants and their leaders insisting that the pipeline security contracts were designed for oil-producing communities and not only for ex-militant leaders from Southern Ijaw.
The governor, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, described the activities of the ex-militant leaders as a breach of the existing peace.
He said the ex-militants were hitherto, beneficiaries of pipeline contracts which they failed to execute. Dickson expressed displeasure that the ex-militants were being used by those he described as misguided politicians to embark on senseless public demonstrations within and outside the state capital.
“Sadly, these ex-militants, who have mismanaged the Amnesty programme to shortchange their followers, are again planning to use the innocent youths to play out the script of their sponsors to malign the state government and destabilise the state for their selfish financial interest.
“In addition to the Amnesty programme, which they control exclusively, these ex-militant leaders also have a share of the pipeline surveillance contract, but they are fighting to be the only ones to carry out this function throughout the state.
“They have no capacity to do this and it doesn’t make sense because there are so many youths and chiefs in the state that can also be involved in their communities for accountability.
“The position of the government is that, pipeline surveillance contracts are not for ex-militant leaders alone, most of whom hail from a particular local government area. The state-owned security company is for all persons in the state and will ensure that they are made to carry out their duties effectively.
“There are youths from other local government areas that, must benefit from these contracts and not just Bajeros whose promoters are only from Southern Ijaw local government area.”
The governor explained that the rationale behind the establishment of the state-owned Izon-Ibe Security Company was part of efforts to address the challenge of youth unemployment.
He said the security outfit was basically set up to provide special training for youths and engage them for the purposes of security services.
He said: “The Izon-Ibe Security firm is a limited liability company that is a community-based security and empowerment scheme for Bayelsa youths across the communities with the active involvement of the chiefs and leaders to train youths in the surveillance of pipeline and guard duties.
“The management of the Izon-Ibe Security Company, which has Chief Joshua Fumudoh as Chairman and Chief James Jephthah as Managing Director, with a representative of the Ijaw Youth Council, (IYC) among others on its board is expected to take steps to engage youths to go for the necessary training for job placements in the company.”
He called on members of the public to discountenance the antics of the ex-militants, who he said had become political jobbers, sponsored to cast aspersions on the good intentions of the government.
He stressed that the restoration administration would not succumb to any form of blackmail and intimidation. He advised Bayelsans, especially the youths not to be misled by persons, “whose stock in trade it is to put the communities and the state into jeopardy by their nefarious activities”.
He warned Bayelsans, especially the youths to resist the temptation of being used by this group of persons to foment trouble, as the law enforcement agencies had been put on red alert to deal decisively with trouble makers.
Ex-militants adamant
The National Chairman, 6166 Presidential Amnesty Phase II, ‘General’ Aso Tambo, insisted that Dickson had concluded plans alongside the President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide to hijack the contracts.
“Other states like Delta, Edo, Cross River, Rivers and Akwa Ibom are also involved because they have ex-militants like us. The governors of these states did not encroach into these contracts.
“In the case of Bayelsa, we don’t know why the governor is making it peculiar that he wants to share the security contracts with the ex-militant leaders. He wants to take 50 per cent while the ex-militants will be given 50 per cent.
“As at the time this contract was awarded, Dickson was not even a governor. These contracts were awarded as a result of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) we undertook with the federal government that if we accept the amnesty offer, pipeline security jobs will be given to us. That was why the jobs were given to us,” he said.
He said they would never allow any governor to hijack the jobs and threatened to make the stage uncomfortable for Dickson if he refused to stay away from the contracts.
He said: “If the governor has people he wants to empower, the state has many resources through internally generated revenues and statutory allocations. Bayelsa is a room and parlour state.
“We are even surprised that the state till tomorrow has not been developed to our state after all the trillions that had come into the state. The governor should not interfere with our contract.
“If he does so, we will continue to keep him restless. We will continue to suffocate him pending when his elections will come and we will definitely not give him any room to come back.”
Also, Ogunboss said the angry ex-militants trooped to the streets to protest wrong policies of the present administration in the state and the plot by Dickson to hijack a multibillion dollar NNPC pipeline surveillance contract to communities in the state.
“Apart from the numerous show of incompetence by the present administration, Dickson is trying to hijack the job meant for the oil-bearing communities in the state.
“Most of the South-South states have signed the allocation of the surveillance contract but Dickson is insisting that the job be awarded to a self-styled company known as Izon Ibe, a security outfit that we don’t know.
“Dickson should concentrate on the use of state allocation and internally generated revenue to advance the good of the State rather than hijack jobs coming to communities.”
Ijaw youths clarify the issue
Ijaw youths quickly reacted to the protest describing the ex-militants as misinformed individuals. The President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC), Worldwide, Mr. Udens Eradiri, said by the protest, the ex-militant leaders had exposed themselves as selfish individuals who have no interests of the poverty-stricken Ijaw communities at heart.
He further faulted the implementation of the pipeline surveillance contracts saying they were formerly designed to directly benefit the oil-bearing communities. He said for that for two years the ex-militant had enjoyed the proceeds of the contracts, pipeline vandalism recorded all time high.
He said the initial plan was that why the Federal Government would engage 30,000 ex-militants in training and reintegration into the society, it should also engage the communities through pipeline contracts.
Tracing the genesis of the contracts, he said: “I was coincidentally Secretary-General of the IYC when the Niger Delta was on fire and that leadership led by Dr. Chris Ekiyor swung into action to resolve the crisis in the region.
“We were negotiating with the Federal Government. Many past leaders came together and eventually an amnesty was proclaimed. Now this amnesty was proclaimed for about 30,000 youths that were directly involved in the agitation.
“When we were designing the programme, we said that if you have 30,000 young people that have been involved in this agitation taken away from the creeks to be trained and reintegrated into the society, you need also to do something to engage the communities, the people.
“This is because the number of youths who are vulnerable to being used for criminal activities are basically in the communities. I was part of those who wrote that programme for a security surveillance for oil installations in the communities”.
But he regretted that when the programme started, the government politicized it and awarded the contracts to ex-militant leaders who were supposed to have been in schools preparing for reintegration.
“When the programme started, some of us went into playing politics and eventually when it got to implementation stage it was handed over to the same people that are supposed to be in class learning.
“A surveillance is meant for communities that host oil facilities. The implementation was wrong. They took it and handed it over to the same people as part of compensation for them. It is a very negative gesture of government. Because of the huge sums of money involved, NNPC and many others started getting interested in the monies.
“So, they deviated from the original plan. For over two years, they were receiving money and just sharing it. The media should plot a graph today on pipeline management. Pipelines were managed to a point because companies were having their own surveillance arrangements.
“But if you plot a graph, you will see the straight line until where these contracts were awarded, that was when the destruction went up. The massive destruction of pipelines began exactly the period when the implementation of surveillance started because the communities became angry that they were not the original executors of that process
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