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The National President of Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide (IYC), Worldwide Comrade Jonathan Lokpobiri, has said the death that occurred at Abuoloma in Rivers State during the IYC Eastern Zone election last Saturday was avoidable.
Lokpobiri said it was an election he had no interest in, adding that he had nothing personal to benefit from an election that led some promising youths to their early grave.
The IYC president, while addressing a press conference at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) secretariat in Yenagoa said, as an ijaw man, they had conducted elections in Oporoza in Delta State, “which everybody knows their capacities. At the end of that election, all the candidates of interest parties failed and we all left in safety.
“Let me also inform the world that we have done similar elections in okochiri where Our respected king, His Royal Majesty Ateke Tom and all the candidates of their interest failed in that election, while they were just there as direct observers, nobody was wounded and we all left there in safety.
“What is so different in just a zonal election that I have nothing personal to benefit from to lead to the death of Ijaw youths that we should protect. These are questions that I will like the press to answer and those responsible for these death.”
He further said the former secretary general of council, whom he described as a cousin to Alhaji Asari Dokubo, “has consistently lied to him (Asari Dokubo) that I had interest to install a Wike candidate and I must not be allowed to conduct the election and Alahji believe him.
“I raise the issue of my predicament in Opobo, where I almost got shot and Alahji told me it was a lie that Nengi told him nothing of such happened and Sergeant Weri who was a witness told him he was a witness to what happened. Instead of investigating the truth, he is believing his brother. Never the less, I pleaded with him to attend the meeting on Friday, presiding the election which he actually attended”.
According to Lokpobiri, before the morning of the election, in the night, “our leader called me that Mr president I heard that you are going to provide military men to that election venue and that if you are providing military for an IYC election, that I will confront you.
“The ijaw people will confront you. And I said sir, I don’t know who ever have told you this, that this is a lie sir. The security I will be needing is for just my own escort, so that I can safely go in there, conduct the election and they will escort me out. They will not be part of the security system.
“The security would be the local community security, I pleaded with him in the cause of my explanation. He flared up that from now on you cease to be my president. This election ordinary ought to have been conducted today being Friday but since you are going ahead to conduct the election on Saturday which is a violation of our constitution, whatever will be the outcome would be invalid, I will not honour it.
“And there was a video where it was widely spread, where he said that he supported me to be president, now I have gone to collect money from Wike to coronate a candidate for Wike to fight same, and as far as he is concerned he will not allow a Wike candidate contest this election and that the election will not hold.
“Just 20 minuntes into the voting process, we started hearing gun shots. Initially it was a huge crowd of people rushing to break the gate which the community’s local security couldn’t withstand and many of them were in the same regalia of white and white with native chalk and red and red with some people in black and they were led by one Ododo who they said is one of the leading commanders of Amamas soldiers.
“Several people were matcheted with some people’s arms completely cut off. What was their crime? They came to participate just to witness an IYC election that in other times we had have peacefully, and that more than 20-something buses were loaded with men with weapons into the premises which was a total shift from the dream and vision of IYC founding fathers.
“We disciplined ourselves in order not to have altercation in the cause of the election, and while the election was on going the formal secretary came first to seize the electoral material from the Zeco chairman and that the election was not free and fair which the security men on ground settled “
