At least one person died and eight were injured as more than a thousand youths, many of them ex-militants, today took to the streets of Yenagoa, capital of Bayelsa State, to protest against Governor Seriake Dickson's administration in a dispute around a pipeline contract.
The protesters accused the governor of running a "repressive and insensitive administration."
Participants said one person died and there were several eight injuries following a clash between demonstrators and armed police.
The protesters are upset with Governor Dickson's reported plan to hijack the multimillion oil pipeline surveillance contract that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) had earmarked for oil bearing communities in the state.
The protest was organized by ex-militants, but included other
sympathetic groups, among them the Physically Challenged Persons. The
protest started at the Tombia-Etegwe roundabout soon after 6
a.m. Commuters were stranded and commercial activities brought to a
halt.
More tag nine vehicles were vandalized in the ensuing
melee. Markets stalls and business outlets, including the popular Camp
Murphy relaxation establishment, were vandalized.
The arrival of a reinforcement of police officers helped contain the chaos. Some members of the Presidential Amnesty Implementation Committee also arrived to plead for calm by the ex-militant youths.
A witness said one John Opotobo, an ex-militant youth from Southern
Ijaw local government area of the state, was killed in the fracas.
The
spokesman for the Bayelsa Police Command, Butswat Ansim, denied reports
of the death of an ex-militant. He said, "the police only shot tear gas
canisters to disperse them.The police did not shoot live cartridges.”
He confirmed that six of the protesting ex-militants were arrested.
