Stop playing politics with military equipment, Dickson warns politicians

The Governor of Bayelsa State, Henry Seriake Decision, has said that support and provision of necessary equipment for military and security services in the country should not be politicised.

According to him, it was the responsibility of government to place priority on security to be able to develop the society.

A statement by the governor’s Special Adviser (Media Relations), Fidelis Soriwei, stated these during a tour of military and security formations in Yenagoa on Sunday.

Dickson was at the headquarters of the 16 Brigade, and the Police Officers Mess in Yenagoa to felicitate with the officers and men on Christmas.

The visit was also to encourage them to do more in the efforts to combat crime in Bayelsa State, the Niger Delta and indeed the entire country.

Dickson called on the political actors to take the challenge and give the necessary support to the military and security agencies whose efforts were required to realize the objective to develop the society.

He said, “I want to assure you that under my leadership, the issue of security and stability will continue to be on the frontburner. The first responsibility of any administration is to encourage the work for peace and stability. You can’t have development without security.

“I want to also use this opportunity to say what I have said all along that the political leadership in our country should rise to the occasion and support the great work that our men and women uniform are doing.

“There should be no partisanship, no brinkmanship, no showmanship when it comes to the issue of giving necessary support and equipment to our men and women in uniform who are the only people that have volunteered to serve our nation at the risk of their life lives.”

According to him, Bayelsa was one of the safest states in the Federation and indeed the safest in the South South because of the collaborative efforts of the government and the security agencies.

Dickson who assured the security agencies of greater collaboration in 2018 urged them to redouble their efforts for security, peace and stability of the state next year.

In his remarks, the Commissioner of Police in charge of the Bayelsa State Police Command, Mr. Amba Asuquo, commended the governor for his sustained support to police operations in the state which, according to him included among others the donation of the best officers mess and a complete police band to the command.

The commissioner said that 72 suspects arrested after a show of force in Yenagoa on Saturday were being screened.

He added that a suspect who robbed manager of a new generation bank and another robber who shot his colleagues while attempting to shoot a victim were also in police custody.

Also, the Commander, 16 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Brig. Gen. Kelvin Aligbe,who also hosted the Honourable Dickson thanked the governor for providing the brigade with resources that aided the realization of its operational objectives.

“Your Excellency, this is not an opportunity to patronize your person, but I will not miss this opportunity to declare how happy, how fulfilled we are, and how wonderful you have been to us in this journey particularly for the 16 Brigade that is the youngest in the Nigerian army.

“In a very short time, you ensured that we took off and we are not just running, we are actually flying and we are achieving all the operational objectives set out for us in the division by the COAS.”