Nigeria, Aug. 27, 2016 – There are indications that the suspects who masterminded recent attack on a military base in Nembe, Bayelsa State, in August this year have allegedly confessed to the crime.
They were said to have also confessed their links with former governor,Timipre Sylva, who was the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last election.
On Monday August 8, suspected militants attacked the Joint Task Force, Operation Delta Safe, in Nembe, Bayelsa State and killed three soldiers.The suspects reportedly made the co fission during interrogation following their arrest.
Already, two of the suspects were also reported to have been killed during the arrest carried out by the waterways security outfit set up by the Bayelsa State Government and led by ex-militant leader, Africanus Ukparasia.
According to an impeccable source close to the security outfit, the suspects were arrested at Olugbobiri community in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state on a tipoff.
The source, who pleaded anonymity, confided that the suspects, on interrogation, confessed to the crime and their links with the former governor, Timpre Sylva.
They were also said to be the same group of suspects who carried out the killing of four soldiers and a policeman on Nembe waterways last year.
Sources reliably stated that the suspected killers were recruited and assigned “political roles” similar to the crime and general lawlessness during the last election in which they caused mayhem in Southern Ijaw LGA of the state.
The source claimed that the plot, as hatched by the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership in the state, was to make the state ungovernable an pave way for the imposition of a state of emergency in the state.
This, it was gathered, was a scheme to win the state at all cost by the opposition party in the state during the last election.
“The attack last year just before the election was among the plans hatched by the opposition to create tension and a sense of insecurity in the state in order to force the hand of PresidentMuhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency and possibly take over the state”, the source declared.
The source, who called for a thorough investigation of the claim, said it will be against the cause of justice if those who perpetrate crime in the state do not get investigated and punished as this has the tendency to encourage further crime and to the detriment of society.
“It is a shame that those linked to be behind the suspected killers are still going about scot free. Up till now, there is no invitation, no interrogation, no arraignment. Instead, what we see is Police and DSS protection of those who are linked to the crime.
“It is clear that the sponsors of those criminal gangs and killer squads are above the law. They go about stealing and carrying lethal weapons yet they are being shielded from prosecution simplybecause they have pledged the so-called allegiance to the party at the centre”, the source claimed.
