Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri and supporters of FCT Minister Nyesom Wike are at odds over a planned rally in support of Wike and President Bola Tinubu, along with the inauguration of a political group in Bayelsa.
Naija News reports that Diri had warned that the April 12 rally could spark unrest.
He said: “Holding such an event when political tensions are high in Rivers State could fuel unrest in Bayelsa,” Diri stated. “Any attempt to import the Rivers crisis here will be resisted. I call on security commanders, parents and traditional rulers to dissuade their wards from being used to cause trouble.”
Diri also accused a faction within the Bayelsa Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), allegedly aligned with a former governor, of attempting to create instability.
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“We have a renegade in our party who has formed a parallel PDP in Bayelsa, working with an ex-governor. He was part of the discredited PDP South-South zonal congress, which was rejected by our National Working Committee,” Diri said. “Bayelsa is the cradle of the Ijaw nation. We will not allow faceless groups to disrupt our peace.”
Rally organizer George Turnah refuted Diri’s concerns. “The rally is meant to support President Tinubu and Minister Wike. It is not about destabilising Bayelsa or any state,” Turnah said. “The New Associates is a grassroots political movement mobilising support for Tinubu’s administration in the South-South.”
Turnah also addressed Diri’s claim that he was collaborating with a former governor to cause unrest.
“I am not only a PDP member but also the serving zonal secretary of the party in the South-South. I do not understand what office the governor is accusing me of holding if I am not a party member,” he stated.
Following Diri’s warning, security agencies in Bayelsa staged a show of force, patrolling major streets in Yenagoa.
Led by personnel of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) SOROH under the Central Naval Command, the exercise involved officers from the Nigerian Army, Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Immigration Service, and Correctional Service.
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Commodore Omobamidele Akinbami of NNS SOROH said, “This show of force reassures Bayelsa residents that security agencies are alert and ready to act whenever needed. The peace in this state will be maintained, and we are here to ensure it.”
