The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the last Bayelsa State governorship election, Chief Timipre Sylva, on Tuesday asked the military to fish out persons behind the killing of soldiers in Nembe, Bayelsa State.
Sylva strongly condemned the brutal attack on security operatives, describing the killers as enemies of humanity. The former governor said:
The killing of the soldiers is a grievous crime that cannot be excused on any ground. It is a legal and cultural abomination, which goes against everything the people of Nembe and neighbouring communities believe in. Those who committed this sacrilege are only out to set up our communities for destruction. They should be fished out and made to face the law. We must work with the security agencies to isolate and frustrate the machinations of those who would want to make our communities a fertile ground for violence and underdevelopment. As I have always said, the solution to the problems in the Niger Delta does not lie in violence, it lies in constructive engagement and dialogue. We have come a long way on the path of peaceful solution to our problems. And President Muhammadu Buhari has shown unprecedented commitment to the peaceful resolution of all problems in the Niger Delta and development of the region. We cannot at this point begin to roll back the frontiers of peace and development. We cannot afford to return to violence as a means of agitation.”