AN OPEN LETTER TO THE GOVERNOR OF BAYELSA STATE, SEN. DOUYE DIRI, ON THE INCESSANT KILLINGS IN YENAGOA

Your Excellency,
Sen. Douye Diri
Executive Governor of Bayelsa State,
Government House,
Yenagoa.

18th December, 2020

Your Excellency,

CULTISM AND SECURITY LAPSES IN YENAGOA: A CLEANABLE STAIN ON YOUR ADMINISTRATION

I most humbly and respectfully request to trespass into your already crowded schedules, asking that you kindly grant me audience in my humble attempt to bring to Your Excellency’s notice, the state of the present day Yenagoa, which has become so porous and prone to the attacks of the dreaded different cult groups.

Your Excellency sir, I am one of your loyal advocates, believers and preachers of the Prosperity Administration. Your kindness in appointing our brothers and sisters as your Commissioners, SAs, S.T.As, T.As, Members of Boards and Commissions, the expansion of the Tombia/Etegwe Road (even though the work is yet to be completed) are quite commendable, and I pray the good Lord gives you more wisdom and strength to continue in your Divine Mandate Mission.

However, Your Excellency sir, something strange is happening in Tombia junction area in particular, which I feel is necessary to call your kind attention to, even though I may not be the right person to bring it to your notice, but for being a concerned citizen of your administration and the state. I have to do this because, it has always been said that security business is everybody’s business, and, Your Excellency, I have often times heard and watched you tell Bayelsans that the security of our lives and property is the priority of your Government.

Sir, the state of the present day Yenagoa, especially the Tombia junction area is quite pitiable as we helplessly watch cultists, even in the broad daylight, slaughter our brothers and sisters, even our aged parents; our mothers, wives and sisters are raped before us, even in the broad daylight, by cultists who arm themselves and harass, intimidate, terrorize us with sophisticated weapons!

Your Excellency, you may hardly believe it if you were told that between June and December 2020, between 15 to 30 people have been killed in Yenagoa as a result of cult related activities (Tombia junction alone is more than 7)

Your Excellency, the above is not an exhaustive number of the atrocities these cultistscommitted recently; the list is just the available data I was able to get on my own investigation, as at the time of writing this letter. A lot of killings, intimidation and terrorism have been going on in the said area on daily basis, and the Government seems to have been punishing Bayelsans for either the things they did or the ones they failed to do, as there is hardly any presence of security agencies in various flashpoints to curtail such nefarious activities.

Your Excellency, may I humbly remind you that some of those people who were killed in cold blood are probably the breadwinners of their families, mostly students, traders, residents and even travellers.

Suffice it to say, that if another election were to be conducted today between Your Excellency and another political opponent, with the absence of those that their lives have been cut short, you will no doubt lose their votes and a singular vote of one might have been the margin you would have gotten over your political opponent; that is where his/her importance to you comes in Sir.

Not only that, may I also remind Your Excellency that the testimonies of your administration in Bayelsa State have gone beyond the shores of the state, and in fact, beyond Nigerian borders, and no right thinking human will not be pricked on hearing that such atrocious happenings as we are seeing in Yenagoa today are still in place in a state you are working hard to make the best state in Nigeria. They will be pricked the more when they hear that all these killings have been going on in your state for almost a year now with no end visibly seen. Your Excellency, security is everybody’s work, but there are those who are specifically officially given that responsibility; the people of Bayelsa, and where such activities are rampant, need the extra attention of such bodies, sir.

Excellency, never in the history of Yenagoa have we had it this bad in terms of security challenges. I would not in any way dare to remind you of your responsibilities, but as the Chief Security driver of our State, you have the power and authority to remind, and even compel the Commissioner of Police and all the security outfits in the state to go to the field and do their works, if for any reason they are lagging behind in doing so. You have the power, Your Excellency, to mobilize the vigilante groups and encourage community policing; you have the right to dictate to the security outfits in the state, the standard of security you want in your state. Your dexterity in transforming Bayelsa State to the envy of other states in the country is unquestionable, but, Your Excellency, the people for whom you are transforming Bayelsa State are on daily basis being slaughtered by cultists, particularly in the Tombia junction area where traders, students, residents and travellers run for their lives everyday and I think, in my humble opinion, that the lives and property of the people be secured first, so that they will live and enjoy your Prosperity touch in Bayelsa State and the dividends of democracy you are working on to bring to them.

Lastly, Your Excellency, this letter is not in any way written to tarnish your image before the global world; it is rather written to bring to Your Excellency’s kind attention, the security challenges in Tombia area in particular and Yenagoa in general, in order that the situation be handled in time. Your Excellency, I am very much convinced that the residents in Yenagoa, and Bayelsa in general, will not in a hurry forget your name in their history book if you will be kind enough to come to their rescue in the situation.

While thanking you for your kind patience in reading this very long letter, I pray that the letter finds favour in your sight, and that something be done, and done very urgently!

May the Almighty God continue to keep and bless you with more grace, wisdom and strength of character to handle every situation that leadership presents.

Very Sincerely,
Hon. Ogidi Ben Bara OBB

ogidiorg@gmail.com

08067225022