Three persons have been injured in Bayelsa State as supporters of two major political parties in the state — the Peoples Democratic Party...
The incident took place on Thursday at Twon Brass, the headquarters of Brass Local Government Council Area of the state.
It was learnt that supporters loyal to APC member in the state House of Assembly, Israel Sunny-Igoli; and those loyal to the Caretaker Committee Chairman of the council, Mr. Victor Isaiah, bickered over issues bordering on a carnival.
It was learnt that the supporters fought one another with deadly weapons such as guns, cutlasses and other dangerous weapons during the bloody clash.
It was further learnt that the clash was allegedly provoked by the decision of the LGA to declare curfew in the council area and declare as illegal the gathering of persons in the council, claiming to tackle problems of insecurity.
The alleged action of the LGA did not, however, go down well with the supporters of the APC, who rationalised that the decision was a deliberate attempt to frustrate the planned Christian praise and worship carnival being organised and sponsored by Sunny-Igoli.
Some other APC supporters claimed the action of the newly-inaugurated caretaker committee in Brass was a deliberate attempt to whittle down the power and influence of the APC and a former governor, Timipre Sylva, in Brass area.
An eyewitness at Twon-Brass, who spoke in confidence, claimed that the arrival of the council chairman, Victor Isiah, at the LGA headquarters allegedly with armed security men and some alleged cultists from Odioma and other neighbouring communities led to pandemonium, attended with heavy shooting of guns.
Reacting to the incident, Sunny-Igoli, the only APC elected House of Assembly member in Bayelsa State, described the incident as an attempt by the LGA chairman to allegedly use the PDP factor to intimidate the people of the area.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Bayelsa Police Command, Asinim Butswat, confirmed the incident on Friday.
Butswat, a deputy Superintendent of Police, said the Command had deployed a detachment of armed mobile policemen in the area to control the situation and restore law and order.
Butswat also confirmed that an emergency meeting between Sunny-Igoli and Victor Isaiah was convened on Friday by the Police Commissioner, Asuquo Amba.
“The meeting was fruitful and all parties have agreed to go and discuss with their supporters in Brass LGA.
“The Police command has also deployed a detachment of armed mobile policemen in the area to restore normalcy,” the spokesman said.
It was gathered that at the meeting held at the State Commissioner’s office, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Security Matters, Bomo Sparrow-Jack; the Deputy Police Commissioners on Operations, Administration and Investigations, and the chairman of the Ijaw Youths Council, Central Zone, Tari Porri, were present.
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