Bayelsa Women Sue For Violence-Free Poll

By Igoniko Oduma

Yenagoa

Women from different communities in Bayelsa State have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to direct relevant security agencies to ensure that electoral violence is not recorded in the December 5 governorship election in the state.

They also urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be above board and conduct the governorship election according to the law and in line with best international practice.

The women and mothers under the auspices  of Women of Excellence (WE), a socio-political group, noted that Bayelsa had been known to be a flash point of political and electoral violence in the past.

Tension has gripped the state following  a threat at the weekend by a group of suspected militants, the Mangrove Boys of Bayelsa (MBB) to mobilise a 10,000-man protest against the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC),Timipre Sylva.

Sylva’s campaign organisation warned against such demonstration and alleged that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the state government were behind the plot.

The co-coordinator of WE, Gita Tari-Ere, told reporters after a meeting of the women in Yenagoa on Sunday that mothers were worried that the political climate appeared to be already charged with election-related violence ahead of the poll.

“In the recent past, Bayelsa State has been smeared by violence, killings, kidnappings and cultism.

“State mechanisms were used to sponsor terrorism directed at political opponents or perceived enemies of government. Many Bayelsans fled into exile in neighbouring states and far-flung places”, she said.

Gita said women were always at the receiving end of political skirmishes and appealed to the political parties and politicians to desist from over-heating the polity.

She said it was imperative that all stakeholders embraced “peace and political tolerance  as we approach the governorship election”.

Gita, who was flanked by the group’s Public Relations Officer (PRO),Amaemi Bekeyei-Alaki, and the co-coordinator of non-indigenes, Alaxis Sowunmi,  said the security agencies had a duty to ensure the protection of life and property and bring perpetrators of mayhem to book.

“Mr. President must not be seen to encourage or tactically support electoral violence and must, therefore, take appropriate steps to ensure the election is free and fair.

“To our women, aged citizens and the physically-challenged, we say come out and decide your future on December 5. To our youths, we say shun violence”, Gita added