…CNPP, LP AT LOGGERHEADS OVER PROBE

More condemnations have trailed the killing of six Labour Party (LP) supporters at the country home of the governorship candidate of the party, Mr. Ndutimi Alaibe. The Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Bayelsa State chapter, Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) Bayelsa State chapter, the Commissioner for Energy in the state, Mr. Maxwell Oko and some politicians in the state have condemned the killing of the LP supporters.

The NBA, led by its Chairman, Mr. Stanley Damabide, during a visit to Alaibe said there was need to change the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led government.

The politicians, led by the former director- general of the  Umar Yar' Adua./ Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organization, Chief Fyneman Wilson said it was high time those who were forced out of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by Governor Timipre Sylva regained control of affairs in the state by supporting Alaibe.

Other speakers include a former speaker of the Old Rivers State, Mr Talford Ongolo, a former PDP leader in Sagbama area of the state, Bernard Agai, former commissioner of Sports, Mr. Douye Diri, former woman leader of the PDP and ex-caretaker, Chairperson of Brass Local Council, Mrs. Helen Bob, the NMA Chairman, Dr. Seifa Brisibe, the Minority Leader of the state House of Assembly, Mr Angus Dide and Chief Ebi Albert said they were poised to effect the needed change in government.

Diri, who is the  Director – General of the Timi Alaibe Campaign Organisation said there had been attempts to stop the zeal of the LP and Alaibe to effect the needed change in the governance of the state, adding, 'but we are in the state for peaceful change. Some see the entry of Timi Alaibe as a rumour but what we have done is to tell them that his entry into politics is anointed by God.'

Oko, in a statement reacting to the incident noted that it was the handiwork of desperate politicians in the build up to the 2011 elections, he said: 'It is an unacceptable and condemnable act that is not in the true spirit of the Ijaw people. It is not the way of life of the Ijaw people to turn a political gathering into a killing field where the lives of young people are wasted. The violence has become a source of embarrassment to everybody. The election period will soon be over but we will be left together in the state. Such animalistic behaviour is not in the true spirit of the Ijaw people.'

Meanwhile, the LP and the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) are at loggerheads over the call for a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to probe the killing of LP supporters at the country home of the LP governorship candidate, Mr. Ndutimi Alaibe.

The CNPP Chairman, Mr. Frank Oputu had called on the state Governor, Chief Timipre Sylva to set up a Judicial Panel of Inquiry to investigate the alleged rival cult clash at the hometown of the LP's governorship candidate, Mr. Timi Alaibe, accusing him of being culpable in the loss of the six persons.

Oputu said the governorship candidate of the LP was culpable with the alleged hiring of rival cult groups without clear knowledge on their rivalry and could not stop the confrontation that ensued from the Port Harcourt Airport and the Opokuma Community in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Council of the state.

According to him, the incident was a pointer that Alaibe and his team were not experienced in security and political issues.

But the Chairman of the LP, Bobo Atari- Adou has dismissed the position of the CNPP, describing it as 'mischievous' and 'sponsored'.

' It is unfortunate that when the series of killings of perceived government oppositions were being carried out by some paid killers in some parts of the state, there was no call for the setting up of a Judicial Panel of Inquiry by the CNPP. The security agencies have assured the party of their readiness to arrest the killers. We urge the CNPP and their sponsors to be patient as the faces of the killers will be unveiled.

'We are worried that such calls are coming from a body that was set up to cater for all existing political parties in the state. Is CNPP a media arm of the state government? It is shameful. We have discovered that the call is the first in the series of plot by some persons in government to seek a kangaroo indictment of the LP candidate and attempts to throw the state into unimaginable confusion.'