Rivers should stop inflammatory statements – Bayelsa

Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson
| credits: transformationwatch.com

Bayelsa State Government has warned its Rivers State counterpart to desist from making comments about the Soku/Oluasiri oil wells that could heat up the polity.

In a statement on Sunday by Bayelsa State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Markson Fefegha, it said the state was forced to react when Rivers State published what it described as provocative statement on the matter.

It said, ‘‘The government of Bayelsa State therefore urges the Rivers State Governor and his appointees to refrain from making inciting and inflammatory remarks capable of triggering off inter-communal crises among our people.’’

The statement alleged that the publication by Rivers State Government on the issue was intended to create crisis among the peace-loving Ijaw people in Rivers and Bayelsa States and garner public sympathy for the former.

Noting that it was not only disrespectful and insulting, Fefegha said it also smacked of insubordination and arrogance on the part of the leadership of the Rivers State Government.

According to Fefegha, while the matter remains in the front burner of public discourse, it is advisable for the Rivers State Government to stop denigrating the office of the President, saying the office is the highest institution in the land.

Urging the Ijaws and traditional rulers to refrain from being used to cause disunity between the people of the states, the commissioner noted that derivation issue was purely a state matter and not a matter between communities.

The statement added, “Soku is a village in Rivers State while the oil wells/ oil field and the flow station are located in the Oluasiri clan in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.”