By Lateef Ibrahi
Ahead of 2019 general elections, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) of trying to foist siege mentality on Bayelsa state.
The PDP has therefore warned the Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government and the APC to immediately steer clear of Bayelsa state as their continued onslaught and siege on the state would spelt doom on the nation.
The National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Kola Ologbondiya, who spoke with journalists at the weekend in Abuja, said that “it is no longer news that the APC, for obvious reasons, has been bent on forcefully taking over the control of oil rich Bayelsa and other littoral states, for which it now seeks to turn them into theaters of war, with the support of certain individuals in control of federal apparatus of power.
“Today, the PDP and the people of Bayelsa state are being pushed to the wall as with the on-going plot by the APC and the Buhari Presidency to bully the people of Bayelsa and politically annex the state, by the use of crude force”, he said.
The party alerted Nigerians of “the current design to use security agencies, particularly the police to browbeat the people, foist a siege mentality on the state, trigger confusion and violence; then create an impression of security emergency with a view to use such as justification for a coordinated invasion, attack and annexing of political structures of the state for President Buhari and the APC ahead of the 2019 general elections.
It said “In the bid to forcefully seize control of Bayelsa state, the APC is attempting to convert the Police into its violent militant wing, leading to the violations of rules of engagement and putting security agencies on collusion course with the people despite potential bloody consequences.
“It may interest Nigerians to know that, in its desperation, the APC has directly influenced the Inspector General of Police into posting eight different Commissioners of Police to Bayelsa state within the space of the last three months just to destabilize the state. “Some of the Police Commissioners spent less than a week before being pulled out of the state by the police authorities that have unfortunately acceded to the demands of the APC on the deployment of police chiefs to Bayelsa State.”
The PDP spokesman pointed out that the change of guard is part of the plan to compromise security architecture of the state and by extension rig the election for President Buhari in 2019.
According to him, “This alarming change of guard of Police hierarchy in Bayelsa state is part of the devious plot to compromise the security architecture of the state, orchestrate security uncertainty, instill fear and siege mentality on residents and then seize the political structure in the state so as to pave way for massive rigging for President Buhari and the APC in the 2019 general elections.
“We are privy to the fact that some of the Police Commissioners were changed due to their failures to infiltrate the firm resolve of the people to remain peaceful and determinedly supportive of the development-oriented PDP administration in the state, under Governor Seriake Dickson.”
