Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa

The immediate past governor of Bayelsa State, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson, has said that he left the Creek Haven Government House, Yenagoa, a fulfilled man.

The former governor in a statement by his media aide, Mr. Fidelis Soriwei, said it was to the glory of God that he left Government House in a blaze of glory in spite of the shocking array of political forces which turned against him after all the assistance he rendered to them.

He lamented that the security of Bayelsa was outsourced to criminal elements who unleashed an orgy of violence on the state since 2015.

Dickson who recalled that the thugs of the All Progressives Congress (APC) killed 21 people in Nembe, Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, without the expected concern and condemnation from the Federal Government.

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He added that even when the election results were announced against the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), there was no violence in consonance with his politics without bitterness or violence.

He lamented that the thugs of the APC destroyed properties in Yenagoa including the vandalisation of residence at Opolo and destruction of property worth millions of naira in response to the Supreme Court judgment.

“When we were ready for the transition, I called the whole state to pray and fast and we prayed and fasted and I considered a lot of things; I consulted and took decisions. You are all in this state. You saw the reactions, and when the elections came, there was nothing possible I didn’t do as a human being for things to go well. People came here with result sheets with the Nigerian military, shut down the whole state, and wrote results and used people to legitimise it, shouting to vilify me to justify the wrong they did. And people believe those lies. As we lost there was no violence. I didn’t come into politics to kill people, to destroy or maim.

“Ordinary rally three days to the election, they kill 21 human beings. Even if you kill 21 goats or chicken, the owner will shout. Nigeria was not bothered. The security agencies collided with them to kill our people. Since 2015 they have been killing our people, even without an election. They will drive people away, burn down their houses; this country since 2015 outsourced Bayelsa to criminals with security agencies supporting and protecting them. It is in these circumstances that I held the state just from your support and with the help of the Almighty God. I didn’t forget or abandon my agenda for my people while they were distracting me, blackmailing me everywhere, and spreading falsehood. The people who should have been supporting and encouraging me were the same people distracting me, destabilising the state. Yet I left Government House very fulfilled to the glory of God.”