Bayelsa Guber Poll: 100-year Old Mother Of APC Deputy Governorship Candidate Abducted

Ebifieghe Dikoro, the mother of Wilberforce
Agiri, the deputy governorship candidate of the
All Progressives Congress, has been kidnapped.
It was learnt that the 100-year old
woman was abducted by unidentified gunmen
who came in a convoy of three speedboats at
about 1a.m. on Thursday.

She was whisked away from her community in
Foropa community of Southern Ijaw Local
Government Area of Bayelsa.
Her whereabouts remained unknown as at the
time of filing this report.
The spokesperson of the Bayelsa State Police
Command, Astimin Butwat, an assistant
superintendent of police, confirmed the
incident.
He however did not provide details.
The abduction of the centenarian is now being
politicized by the APC and the Peoples
Democratic Party, with the campaign
organizations of the APC’s Timipre Sylva and
PDP’s Seriake Dickson pointing accusing fingers
at each other.
The Director of Publicity of the Sylva-Agiri
campaign Organization, Nathan Egba, blamed
the abduction on the alleged violent campaign
embarked upon by the PDP and its candidate.
But the PDP, through the Chairman of the
Bayelsa Media Team, Dan Kikile, said the
abduction of the centenarian is condemnable,
but maintained that the claims by the APC was
unfounded and baseless.
Mr. Egba said, ”We call on the PDP,
particularly their governorship candidate, to
lower the political temperature in the state and
lead by example as he seems to be preaching
violence and insulting the APC leaders in all
public events.
“The kidnap of the aged mother of the APC
running mate is only the latest in rash cases of
kidnapping and sea piracy that has apparently
overwhelmed the security agencies.
“Recall that last year, the uncle of our
governorship candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva,
also died in the hands of kidnappers. Yet,
Governor Dickson kept shouting about peace
and security.”
In his reaction, Mr. Kikile, who doubles as
Bayelsa Commisioner for Information, said the
Dickson administration had in the past raised
the alarm over the increase in violent crimes in
the state due to the activities of the APC.
He said, ”We are aware that these security
issues are created to deliberately call to
question our record on peace and security.
“They know that one of the things we are
showcasing is security and peace and
restoration of law and order.
“Since they came, we have witnessed various
kidnap cases of six traditional rulers in the
State.
“The political adviser to the governor was also
kidnapped and now, the aged mother of the
running mate of the APC. These people are
desperate to put our good record into
jeopardy.”