By Cynthia Johnson
In a quiet town in Bayelsa State, the people of Igbomotoru took to the streets on Sunday, expressing their grievances in a peaceful protest against what they claim is an intrusion by military gunboats.
The community consisting of youths, men, women, and chiefs, voiced their concerns in online videos, pointing fingers at Joshua Maciver, the All Progressives Congress deputy governorship candidate in the recent state election.
According to the demonstrators, Maciver orchestrated the invasion to suppress them and facilitate the appointment of Friday Jonathan, a rejected candidate, as their paramount ruler.
They accused Maciver of leveraging connections with a Niger Delta pipeline surveillance firm, Tantita Security Services Limited, to sow discord in the community.
Quest Times also learned that the residents adamantly declared their resistance to any imposition of an “unwanted stooge” as their leader.
A deputy paramount ruler in one of the videos, called upon federal and state governments to investigate the activities of Tantita and Maciver, alleging a plan to forcefully install an outsider as the ruler of Igbomotoru.
Expressing concern in the local Izon language, an elderly woman emphasized the community’s peaceful nature and warned against attempts to disrupt the harmony.
Meanwhile, Lucky Okodeh, the caretaker committee chairman of the Southern Ijaw council area, echoed similar security concerns over Tantita’s operations, accusing the firm of breaching security and causing harm to lives and property.
“Elections have come and gone, and I have a mandate to protect lives and property in Southern Ijaw LGA, and as such, politicians plotting political vendetta should be reminded that nobody, no matter how highly placed, will be allowed to toy with the peace existing in the LGA,” he said.
Okodeh also urged for a thorough investigation into the alleged security breaches and called on security agencies to swiftly protect lives and property in the region.
Efforts to obtain a response from Maciver were unsuccessful, and calls to Tantita’s official went unanswered.