Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
A group, Embasara Foundation, has called on Governor Henry Seriake Dickson and former governor Timipre Sylva to forge a common front to halt further political killings in Ijawland.
Acting Chairman of the group Dr Ayakeme Whiskey, in a press conference he addressed in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, lamented the killings in various Ijaw communities during the Presidential and National Assembly elections.
Whiskey, who raised the concerns, said there are plans for reprisal attacks by families that have lost loved ones during the Presidential and National Assembly elections in Oweikorogha community in Southern Ijaw local government area of the state, pleaded with Dickson ”to rise above partisanship and prevent the recourse to self-help by aggrieved members of PDP.”
He also called on Sylva to “stop APC thugs from killing and maiming innocent people and spilling blood in Ijawland in the name of elections.”
The group, which condemned the killing youths and soldiers in Abonnema, said it is “appalled at the unrestricted importation and stockpile of arms in Ijaw communities.”
It called on President Mohammadu Buhari to rescind the presidential directive on the shooting of ballot box snatchers to halt the killings in Ijawland.
“As a group we are deeply worried and concerned going forward. Expect there is an urgent intervention by the Federal Government headed by President Buhari to retract the presidential order to shoot ballot box snatchers we cannot guarantee that there would be not be election related killings in Ijawland. As we speak, nobody can predict the scale of extra-judicial killings the Ijawland could witness in the name of chasing political thugs if President Buhari doesn’t act swiftly. Ijawland cannot and shall not accept further bloodletting and killings. Political appointees should realise that they will all retire to their villages soon after their tenure. Must they kill everybody in their communities in the name of politics before the end of their tenure.”