An investment forum organized by Governor
Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State hit a snag on
Friday when news filtered into the state
capital, Yenagoa, that pirates had killed two
persons, including an aide to a former state
commissioner.
The disturbing news came as the participants
at the Bayelsa Investment and Economic
Forum, held in Yenagoa, were preparing to
leave to various destinations.
Details of the attack said armed men
suspected to be sea pirates attacked a
passenger boat along the Ogbia-Nembe
waterways, killing two persons, including
Awotimigha Iyabi, an aide to a former
Commissioner of Information in Bayelsa,
Nathan Egba. The identity of the second victim
of the attack could not be immediately
ascertained. Mr. Iyabi was in his forties, said
a family source.
Our sources said Alfred Watson Belemote, a
politician and state assembly aspirant, his
mobile police escort, and the driver of the
attacked boat were lucky to escape death in
the attack.
Mr. Dickson’s administration had used bogus
claims and assurances that the state was safe
and secure to lure potential investors to the
forum, but the pirate attacks exposed the
falsehood of the government’s rosy depiction
of the state, one of the participants in the
forum told our correspondent.
Even though Bayelsa is one of the most
indebted states in Nigeria, according to
figures prepared by the Debt Management
Office, Governor Dickson earlier this month
asked the state legislature to empower him to
seek a N40 billion loan for an airport project
that is being financed substantially by the
federal government. The controversial loan is
widely unpopular, but one opponent in the
legislature told SaharaReporters that
lawmakers were afraid to openly defy Mr.
Dickson. “We are going to end up accruing
more debt that we don’t have the money to
pay only because a lot of the honorable
members are afraid to stand up and tell the
governor the truth to his face,” said the
source.
Meanwhile, survivors of the pirate attack
said six gunmen attacked the speedboat
conveying the deceased and four others from
Nembe area of Bayelsa. They added that the
gunmen were operating along the waterway,
dispossessing boat passengers of cash and
valuables.
“Our boat ran into the robbery operation and
we were trapped by gunshots from the
gunmen,” said one survivor.
One survivor claimed that the pirates must
have laid ambush for the ex-political aide. “I
heard the pirates shout, ‘He is not here, he is
in the second boat,’” he said, adding that it
indicated an assassination motive.
Our sources said the gunmen had stopped one
of the two speedboats in the convoy of the
politician, adding that the firepower from
the policeman on the boat was not able to
deter the six pirates’ operation.
Nathan Egba, Bayelsa’s former Commissioner
for Information and Orientation, confirmed
the tragic incident. Mr. Egba, who led friends
of the deceased on a condolence visit to the
family of his former aide, expressed shock at
the attack and described the deceased as a
“non-violent and gentle man.”
Alex Akhigbe, a spokesman of the Bayelsa
police command, said that the police had
been notified about the attack, but added that
details of the pirate attack were not yet
ready.


saharareporters.com/2014/07/20/bayelsa-insecurity-mars-investment-forum-pirates-kill-2