PDP presidential rally: Police warn on security threat in Bayelsa

Yenagoa —Ahead of the February 5, Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, presidential campaign rally
in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, the state Police
command has warned individuals and groups that
have no lawful business in the state to stay away
from the state in their interest.
Two groups, Bayelsa Youth Vanguard, BYV, and
Mangrove Boys of Bayelsa, MBB, had threatened to
attack the First Lady if she accompanied her
husband, President Goodluck Jonathan, to the
proposed presidential rally over her alleged
involvement in a plot to embarrass the state
governor during the event.
Meanwhile, the state government has condemned
the threat by the faceless youth groups asking the
First Lady not to attend the planned Presidential
rally in the state.
The government, in a statement by Daniel Iworiso-
Markson, Chief Press Secretary to the state
governor, described the purported threat to the
First Lady as the handiwork of the opposition and
some faceless groups, which only exist on the
pages of newspapers and should not be taken
serious.
Similarly, the state Police Commissioner, Mr.
Valentine NtomChukwu, yesterday in Yenagoa, said
that the command will use all necessary lawful
mechanism at its disposal, to confront and deal
with any person or group of persons planning to
foment trouble in the state.
He said: “The attention of the Bayelsa State Police
Command has been drawn to a publication in the
media that the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan,
will be disgraced if she attends the PDP
presidential rally in Yenagoa.
“I want to warn such groups, especially the so
called Bayelsa Youth Vanguard and Mangrove Boys
of Bayelsa, to desist from making such provocative
and inciting publications likely to threaten the
existing peace currently being enjoyed by
Bayelsans as the police will not hesitate to deal
decisively according to extant laws any such
groups when arrested.”
The police, he assured, will provide adequate
security for the First Lady and other political
groups that want to visit Bayelsa for political
rallies, campaigns or legitimate businesses.”