Ahead of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, grand rally in Bayelsa State on February 5, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Valentine Ntomchukwu, has issued a stern warning to some youth groups threatening to disgrace the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, if she attends the campaign rally.
Two youth groups – Bayelsa Youth Vanguard and the Mangrove Boys of Bayelsa – had, in separate statements, issued in Abuja and Yenagoa, warned Mrs. Jonathan against accompanying her husband, President Goodluck Jonathan, to the rally in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital.
The youths, who accused the president’s wife of been a trouble maker and attempting to divide the state like she allegedly did in Rivers State, had vowed to embarrass and disgrace her at the rally.
But Ntomchukwu, while addressing a select group of journalists in Yenagoa on Thursday, urged members of the public to disregard the threat, saying it was the handiwork of faceless groups.
The commissioner said, “I want to appeal to the general public to come out in large numbers to welcome the President and the First Lady who have done so much for this country. These miscreants cannot disrupt the peace of Bayelsa.
“On that day, we will be celebrating because it is the day the President is coming, not necessarily as PDP, but as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. So, they cannot come and tarnish the image of President in his home state”.
The police commissioner assured that security operatives, in their usual way, would provide adequate security for the First Lady and other political groups visiting the state for rallies, campaigns and legitimate businesses.
He, therefore, asked the BYV and the MBB to desist from making such provocative and inciting statements capable of puncturing the existing peace in the state, warning that if they fail to heed his advice, the police will not hesitate to fish them out and deal with them according to the law.
He added, “The police will not hesitate to deal decisively according to the extant laws with any such groups when arrested. I want to assure you that we are already trailing the mangrove boys anywhere they may be.
“So, my advice is that these boys should just go away from the state entirely because since they have done this publication, they have put themselves on a firing line and we are definitely going to pursue them.
“We are operating with intelligence and the agencies are at our disposal. As soon as we catch them, they will face the wrath of the law. Even though they are faceless, any time they become visible we are definitely going to deal with them.
“They call themselves Mangrove Boys and so we are going to turn attention to any information about them, anything about creek activities, anything about underworld activities in the creeks and we will beam our light on them. I am warning them to please give peace a chance because once we get them, we will deal with them according to the law”.
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