BAYELSA State governor, Seriake Dickson, has accused his Rivers State counterpart, Nyesom Wike, of using the disputed oil well saga to incite ethnic disharmony in Ijawland.
The governor also accused Wike of pursuing “a wicked clandestine ethnic supremacist agenda” in the politics of Rivers State.
Dickson, speaking during a live media chat in Yenagoa on Saturday night, alleged that the Rivers State governor was merely using the disputed oil wells between the two sister states to create disunity and to cover up the deliberate underdevelopment of Ijaw communities in Rivers by pretending to be their champion.
He described Wike’s comments on the disputed oil wells as “reckless, childish and uncivilised,” with an evil intent to attack age-long bonds among brothers.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the governor, Mr Fidelis Soriwei, quoted Dickson as having said that Wike’s vituperations and behaviour towards him and the people of Bayelsa could no longer be condoned after years of restraint.
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Governor Dickson, who dismissed Wike’s claim that Bayelsa was laying ownership claim to Soku, explained that while Soku is a Kalabari (Ijaw) community in Rivers State, the disputed oil wells are located in Oluasiri, Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
He said Ijaw leaders like him had made sustained efforts to forge solid bonds of unity among the people, adding that the progress made could not be destroyed.
He also referred to the Supreme Court’s decision on the issue that directed the National Boundary Commission to carry out a fresh delineation and demarcation exercise in the affected area.
Dickson reminded Wike of how the Rivers delegation, led by its deputy governor at the time, Tele Ikuru, pulled out of the delineation exercise in 2013.
He called on the Ijaws in Rivers State not to fall for the antics of Wike to destroy the long-standing relationship between them and their kith and kin in Bayelsa, adding that there was no intent to annex any part of Kalabari land and any other place.
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