. . .Assures Bereaved Family of Justice
Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State has directed the State Special Committee on Security and Human Rights Violations to investigate the immediate and remote causes of the killing of Mr Daniel Ayama by unknown assailants on the 16th of this month in Yenagoa, the state capital.
Governor Diri gave the directive on Monday during a meeting with the Commissioner of Police, (CP) Francis Idu, representatives of the bereaved Ayama family and other relevant stakeholders in Government House, Yenagoa.
Represented by his deputy, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, the governor condemned the killing and recent cult-related clashes in the state, attributing the development to a deliberate plot by some enemies of Bayelsa to destabilise and make it ungovernable for selfish political interests.
The Deputy Governor, who is the Chairman of the Committee recused himself from the matter and urged the state’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Hon. Dambo Biriyai, SAN, to dispassionately look into the case with a view to achieving justice within the shortest possible time.
The membership of the committee include representatives from the Nigeria Police Force, National Human Rights Commission, Special Advisers 1&2 on Security to the Governor, the Chairman Nigerian Bar Association, Yenagoa Branch, among others.
While commiserating with the Ayama family of Ebedebiri in Sagbama LGA over the extrajudicial killing of their 27-year old-son, Senator Diri assured that government would do everything possible to unearth the cause of the dastardly act and bring the perpetrators to justice.
The Governor, who appealed to the victim’s family to exercice some restraint urged them and members of the public to provide evidence to the committee to enable it determine the real cause of the incident.
He cautioned those who are planning to stage further protest beside the one held last Friday at the Government House Gate to jettison the idea and cooperate with the committee to seek justice for the deceased.
His words: “The Government of Senator Douye Diri is a responsible and responsive one. There’s no time it has allowed extrajudicial killing to take place without the government wading into it and laying blame appropriately.
“There is a committee that is in charge of human rights violation of citizens which l chair as the Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State. The deceased is from my area, so, I have decided to recuse myself for an unbiased investigation and action by the committee.
“The government is aware of what some people are doing to us as a state. There are a lot of activities going on as a result of political interests. There are some people who want the state to be ungovernable.
“There are some people who want to take over political parties and there are those who want to take over governance and government. But they will not succeed. They can only achieve this through legal means and the grace of God.
“I really want to appeal to you (bereaved family) not to add salt to injury because it is going to be very painful. So restrain yourselves and be law abiding. Tell all those who are planning to organise protests on your behalf to stop forthwith because some of them are merchants of conflict.
“They should rather go and provide evidence to the committee because if you protest without providing evidence to the committee, it will be difficult for the committee to make a determination that will bring justice to our late brother, his family and all those affected.”
In his remarks, Commissioner of Police, Bayelsa State Command, CP Francis Idu, expressed sympathy with the Ayama family over the loss of their son and assured that the police was doing all within its powers to ensure that they apprehend his killers.
According to the Police Commissioner, a suspect was arrested and is cooperating with the police by giving credible and actionable information concerning the incident and other security concerns in the state.
Also speaking, a representative of the Ayama family, Mr. Ebikabowei Ayama, expressed gratitude to Governor Diri and his deputy, for their timely intervention into the matter and appealed for fair and unbiased investigation into the killing of their son for the sake of justice.
The Special Committee On Security and Human Rights Violations, which is a standing committee of the state government was given three weeks to submit its report.
