Armed Gang Kills 30-year-old Man in Bayelsa

• Dickson Inducts 8,000-man Security Group

By Emmanuel Addeh in Yenagoa

An armed gang again at the weekend shot dead a 30-year-old man at the INEC/Kpansia area of Melford Okilo road, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

Samuel Collins, the victim, according to eyewitnesses, was also dispossessed of his valuables by the marauders before leaving him in a pool of his own blood.

The Saturday’s murder took place even as the state government inaugurated an 8,000-man strong group in addition to a team of an existing 5000-man ‘volunteers’ to tackle insecurity in the state.

A graduate of Engineering from the University of Benin (UNIBEN), Edo State, the deceased was reportedly waylaid by his assailants at the INEC junction road on his way from Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Collins, it was learnt, was undergoing training at the Nigerian Content Development and Management Board (NCDMB) in Port Harcourt and was returning when he was attacked.

A source said the young man tried to drag his phones and other valuables with the hoodlums who shot him at close range, with the bullets ripping through his neck. He died immediately.

At the crime scene yesterday morning, blood stains were still visible on the ground where the man who was said to have left Port Harcourt for Bayelsa because of the Ramadan holiday, was shot dead.

The police had earlier removed his body and deposited it at the morgue of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Yenagoa.

Mr. Asinim Butswat, the police command spokesman in Bayelsa, who confirmed the death, however said the killing might be cult related from the way the deceased was mauled.

But he added that the police had begun a manhunt for the killers, noting that investigations were still ongoing.

Meanwhile, the state Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, while inaugurating the new security team, said the State Volunteer Service will be empowered to recruit a minimum of 8,000 youths to work with the security agencies.

He added that the community-based intelligence team, deployed in all the local councils, would assist in nipping criminal activities across the state.

Aside that, the Vigilante Coordinators were empowered to recruit 3,000 youths from all the communities in the state to check robberies, cultism, pipeline vandalism, sea piracy and kidnapping.

According to the governor, the new recruits would be distinct from the 5,000 already in the services of the Bayelsa volunteers.

Dickson also said his administration would soon provide additional patrol vehicles and other logistics to enhance the operations of the various security agencies in the state.

“This state must be kept peaceful for every human being irrespective of political parties. Everybody knows that we don’t play politics with security. But those who want to hide under politics to disrupt the peace of any community, terrorize people, I’m getting ready to draw a red line.

“I charge you to work fearlessly and get all the information about what is going on in our communities and in the creeks because we want Bayelsa to remain peaceful.

“Nobody will be allowed to disrupt the peace of the state. I will tell the Commissioner of Police to deploy a senior officer to work with you as to how you will do your job. Get prepared to identify a minimum of 3,000 youths to work with you from every community in this state,” he said during the event.

Mr. Parkins Ogede is the state Chairman of the Local Government Vigilante Coordinators, Mr. Ineifie Ide is Vice-Chairman, while Mr. Ari Fekorigha is to serve as secretary.

Ogede assured the state government that the team would carry out its task with diligence by working with community leaders and security agencies to rid the state of crimes.