Bayelsa State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Doodei Week, and Chief Moses Taribi, father of a slain People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Seidougha Taribi, have testified before Commission of Inquiry into the violence and breach of peace before, during and after the presidential, national and state assemblies elections, in Yenagoa, the state capital.
The commission was set up by Governor Seriake Dickson to look into the violence and brazen violation of the law that rocked the last election in the state.
Week and Taribi testified before the commission of inquiry, to give evidence on the circumstances that led to the killing of Government House photographer, Mr. Reginald Dei, and the leader of the PDP in Oweikorogha, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area.
Father of the slain PDP chieftain, Chief Taribi, and the Agric Commissioner, Doodei, testified that the duo were killed by soldiers on the day of the recent House of Assembly election.
They alleged that one ThankGod Deizigha and his son, Diton, from the same Oweikorogha community led the soldiers to the residence of the slain PDP chieftain, Seidougha, where the two were shot.
While Taribi died on the spot, Dei died after battling for survival for a week, in a Yenagoa hospital, on March 4.
The father of the deceased, and the commissioner of agriculture also gave further evidence before the commission.
Also, the member representing the Nembe Constituency 2, in the House of Assembly, Mrs. Ingo Iwowari-Gold, a princess, told the commission that gunmen attacked her father’s palace a few metres from where election materials were being guarded by soldiers and policemen, on February 22.
The lawmaker, who presented photographic evidence of her bullet ridden house and vehicles, described the attack as an assassination attempt carried out by a collusion of thugs of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and soldiers.
She told the panel, under the chairmanship of Justice Inikade Eradiri, that the soldiers deployed in Nembe Bassambiri and other security agencies ignored her calls.
According to her, it took the state-owned Operation Doo Akpo to move from Yenagoa to rescue her on the day of the attack, on February 22.
She described the results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Nembe Bassambiri as a charade.
Mrs. Iwowari-Gold maintained that the materials for the election were taken to Dairus Hotel for thumb-printing on the day of the presidential/National Assembly elections.
She said over 2,000 supporters of the PDP were chased out of the community by the APC thugs and their collaborators, while results were concocted without any agent of the PDP in sight.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the panel, Justice Eradiri, has urged witnesses to give useful evidence on the issues and assured the commission will ensure a high level of independence in the discharge of its responsibilities.