Rather, the protest now scheduled to hold in Yenagoa, the state capital, on October 14, it said, was a non-partisan, non-violent, civic action to drive home its conviction that the second coming of Sylva would spell doom for the people of the state.

Sylva’s campaign organization had in a statement at the weekend said the group’s impending protest was being sponsored by the Bayelsa State Government and a manifestation of fear about the emergence of Sylva by the government and the Peoples Democratic Party.

But in a statement by the spokesman, Bernnard Legite, on Sunday, the ‘Mangrove Boys of Bayelsa’ refuted this position, insisting that the 10,000-man march was a responsible step driven by the need to call the attention of the public to “the atrocities and evil perpetrated” by Sylva in his five years reign as governor of the state.

While reaffirming its belief in public protest as a civilized conduct in a democracy, the group said the demonstration would be peaceful and non-violent.

It also reiterated that the ‘Mangrove Boys of Bayelsa’ was focused on public sensitization to prevent recurrence of what it described as “the return to our dark days of the reckless and evil actions of the Famutangbe”.

Famutangbe was a security outfit established under Timipre Sylva as governor which it accused to have caused untold human rights violations leading to widespread violence, cultism and mass murder.

The group stated that ”We can assure the general public that this is a peaceful protest. Some of our mothers whose husbands and children were gruesomely murdered have indicated interest to join us in the protest.

“We have since written to the Police to grant us permit for the protest. Certainly, we are pursuing a noble cause when we recollect the fact that Bayelsa under Sylva as governor was a land wracked by violence, kidnappings and cultism.

“Most of us embarking on this protest lost loved ones through Sylva’s state-sponsored terrorism directed at innocent citizens and mostly at political opponents. Many Bayalsans fled into exile in neighbouring states and far-flung places, No doubt, Sylva’s past is now haunting him”.

It further said the protest has become a coalition as other groups with similar interest would be participating, adding that the onerous concern of all members was the quest for the All Progressives Congress (APC) to change Timipre Sylva as its candidate for the December 5 election or face a backlash of massive voting against the APC in the election.

“We want APC to substitute Sylva because the leopard cannot change its spots and this was amply demonstrated by his behavior and those of his allies during the recent APC governorship primaries characterized by violence, intimidation and blackmail. Adams Oshiomhole was a victim of his brutality and the governor’s frank comments about Sylva’s violent behavior are instructive”, it stated.

The Mangrove Boys of Bayelsa also raised posers on Sylva’s moral essence as a candidate, castigating the APC for putting forward a person who is currently facing trial for corruption by the EFCC over massive looting of state funds.

“We like to ask again and again; what message is the APC sending out about President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war”, it queried.

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The warning followed a threat by a “shadowy group of thugs,” code-named “Mangrove Boys of Bayelsa” to stage a protest against the APC candidate for the December 5 governorship election in the state, Chief Timipre Sylva.

The Sylva campaign, in a statement in Yenagoa by Doifie Buokoribo, described the sponsored protest as another manifestation of fear and frustration which Dickson and PDP have displayed since Sylva emerged the APC candidate.

It said Dickson and his party should be held squarely responsible for any breakdown of law and order that could emanate from the protest they were instigating.

The statement said that “The Timipre Sylva Campaign Organisation is aware of the frenzy of sponsored media activity by Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson and PDP against the candidacy of Timipre Sylva.

“This campaign began before Sylva’s emergence as the APC governorship candidate, and it was clearly purposed to ensure that APC presented a candidate that would give Dickson an easy victory.

“Having failed in the bid to manipulate the emergence of an APC candidate that can be defeated, and realising the fact of Dickson’s imminent loss at the 5 December poll, the embattled governor and his party have deployed everything at their disposal to try to denigrate Sylva’s candidacy.

“They have packaged a multi-billion naira media campaign, not to tell the world what Dickson has done and can do for Bayelsa, but to try to vilify Sylva.

“The media campaign having proved futile and failed to check Sylva’s ever growing popularity before the masses, in frustration, Dickson and PDP have moved their anti-Sylva campaign to the street.

“The shadowy world of mischief created by Dickson’s fear of the political stature of Sylva and his frustrations about the reality of Sylva’s imminent victory can no longer be concealed; they are now being brought to the open.

“Dickson and PDP have recruited a shadowy group of thugs, named the Mangrove Boys of Bayelsa, which they intend to use to create mayhem in the state in the guise of an anti-Sylva protest.

“The sponsors of this violence should be held directly responsible by the Nigeria Police and other national security forces for any breakdown of law and order in the state as the good and peaceful people of Bayelsa go towards the election on 5 December to choose a new governor.

“We recall that this same group, ‘Mangrove Boys of Bayelsa’, had in the thick of the 2015 Presidential Campaign serially threatened the wife of the former president, Mrs. Patience Jonathan. They even warned her not to visit Bayelsa for the PDP Presidential rally, accusing her of using the state chapter of the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria to undermine Governor Dickson.

“Now that Mrs. Jonathan and Dickson claim to have settled, the Mangrove Boys of Bayelsa and their principal have found a new enemy in Sylva.

“In a way, we agree that the coming election is about Sylva. The election is about the birthing of a prosperous Bayelsa through Sylva, or the negation of progress through opposition to his candidacy.

“Dickson and his few cohorts may choose to negate progress, but they must keep that choice within the confines of their negative media campaign – which does not perturb Sylva and the vast majority of the Bayelsa electorate – and wait till 5 December to say their minds through the ballot box.

“APC has chosen its candidate as constitutionally prescribed and it is not the place of PDP to question that choice. The only lawful avenue of opposition to the APC choice is the ballot box. Dickson must accept the reality of the ballot box, as the ungodly syndicate that brought him to power in 2012 has become history,” the statement stressed.

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A statement by the spokesman of the organisation, Bennard Legite, and obtained by journalists on Friday in Yenagoa premised the action on Sylva’s alleged poor human rights record and lack of performance when he was governor for five years.

The group which said Sylva’s emergence was an insult to its collective membership wondered why it was so difficult for the APC to get a better candidate other than Sylva and has vowed to resist his second coming even as a candidate.

Legite faulted the APC’s decision to pick the former governor as its candidate and wondered if the party was serious about the quest for change or actually interested in winning the election.

According to him, Sylva’s record as governor was so appalling and anti-people as it said the period was marked by alleged violence and killings as well as massive corruption and wastes in government.

The statement reads: “We the collective members of the Mangrove Boys of Bayels are saddened by the emergence of former governor Timipre Sylva as the APC candidate for the December 5 governor election in Bayelsa State. Even if we have had any sympathy for the APC, its decision to pick Sylva as candidate has totally changed our focus. It runs counter to any logic and decency.

“For a person who for five years can only be remembered for his brutal violence against his people, killing and maiming, rendering many women widows and many children fatherless and with such a record of corruption, then we do not think Sylva’s second coming is good for any purpose in Bayelsa State.

“To demonstrate our resolve to stop Sylva, we are set to mobilise our members and teeming youths of Bayelsa for a 10,000-man march to protest Timipre Sylva’s emergence and his candidacy. It is simply unacceptable for the interest of all our people.

“It is absolutely inconceivable that APC will field a man currently on trial for corruption by the EFCC. Now, what message is the APC sending out about President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption war? These are the moral issues for APC to think about.

“Our protest is to draw the important attention to this malady that Sylva’s emergence will spell doom as a sad reminder of a return to the dark days of killings, cultism, militancy and general insecurity in Bayelsa. Bayelsans have not forgotten the deadly blows they suffered under Sylva’s inhuman regime as governor. We all remember the countless deaths, many wives turned widows and fatherless children.

“We also remember the routine diversion of funds meant for civil servant salaries and a legacy of crippling debt profile. With this ugly past, then our question is: what is Sylva coming to do again? To inflict further punishment on our people or does he think we are so gullible to so accept him? Now, is this the kind of change the APC want us to accept? We think otherwise.

“In the absence of any better candidate from the APC, then we believe it is better for the current governor to continue in office. After all, he has done some good job even when we are asking for more. We are using this statement to call on all our members and the entire youths in the state to be prepared for this important 10,000-man march. This time will be different.”

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The MBB particularly warned Victor Ebikabowei (Boyloaf), Eris Paul (Ogunboss) and Pastor Reuben against causing violence in the state.

The pipeline surveillance contract awarded by the Federal Government to Bayelsa has been causing furore between some ex-militants and the state government.

Last week, some ex-militants staged a protest against Governor Seriake Dickson for allegedly trying to hijack the surveillance job.

During the protest, the ex-militants clashed with the police leading to nine persons being injured and many vehicles, including a police truck, destroyed.

MBB said on Monday that it would no longer fold its hands and watch a few individuals from Southern Ijaw Local Government Area continue to hijack and selfishly enrich themselves with the commonwealth of the youths.

The group said, “The pipeline surveillance job is not their birth right. All the militant leaders disturbing the peace of Bayelsa and trying to hijack the contract through their company, Bajero, are just from one local government area which is Southern Ijaw.

“They do not represent the interests of all of us in the entire state. As formidable freedom fighters, we will not allow these leaders to cheat us again because the contract is meant for our rural communities.”

MBB in a statement signed by its Secretary, Mr. Victor Adere, said it would resist further violent demonstrations in the state by ex-militants and their leaders.

Adere flayed the ex-militants for the last Friday protest which led to the destruction of public property and shooting of guns on the streets of Yenagoa describing their actions as criminal and unlawful.

He alleged that the ex-militants held series of meetings with some officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation where they vowed to create confusion and anarchy in the state in an exchange for dollars.

Adere also accused the ex-militants of collecting cash and contracts from the Niger Delta Development Commission, an agency he said had yet to inaugurate a project in Bayelsa, to fight the leadership of the state.

“These so-called militant leaders in Bayelsa State were paid huge sums of money from the Amnesty Office, Abuja monthly to be paid to their followers but they failed in that process which obviously make their followers to go on the rampage blocking the East-West Road on many occasions,” he said.

Adere added that the MBB was fully in support of the state Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, for his efforts in ensuring that the state-owned Izon Ibe Security Company execute the contract for the benefit of everybody in the state.

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Patience Jonathan spoke through her media adviser, Ayo Adewuyi, who described the two groups as faceless.

Both BYV and MBB had accused the first lady of stoking the fire of crisis in the state by antagonising the governor of the state, Seriake Dickson. The groups said they would disgrace her if she accompanied President Jonathan to the PDP presidential rally to be held on February in Yenagoa.

“We will not descend so low to be joining issues with faceless groups.

“The fact however remains that the First Lady as the wife of the President cannot be threatened by anybody or any group if she decides to visit any part of the country,”Adewuyi said.

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Patience, who spoke through her media assistant, Ayo Adewuyi, was reacting to statements by some youth groups threatening to disgrace her if she attends the grand rally of the Peoples Democratic Party in Yenagoa on February 5.

Two youth groups – Bayelsa Youth Vanguard and the Mangrove Boys of Bayelsa – had, in different statements, issued in Abuja and Yenagoa, barred the President’s wife from accompanying her husband to the rally in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital.

The youths, who accused Mrs. Jonathan of instigating political crisis in the state and working against Governor Seriake Dickson, had vowed to embarrass and disgrace her at the rally.

But the spokesman for the President’s wife who described the groups as faceless, said Mrs. Jonathan would not be cowed into avoiding any part of the country because of threats from such groups.

“We will not descend so low to be joining issues with faceless groups. The fact however remains that the First Lady as the wife of the President cannot be threatened by anybody or any group if she decides to visit any part of the country.”

Meanwhile, the Bayelsa State Commissioner of Police, Valentine Ntomchukwu, has issued a warning to some youth groups threatening to disgrace the wife of the President if she attends the grand rally of the PDP on February 5.

Two youth groups – Bayelsa Youth Vanguard and the Mangrove Boys of Bayelsa – had in different statements issued in Abuja and Yenagoa, barred the First Lady from accompanying her husband to the rally in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital.

But Ntomchukwu, while addressing a select journalists in Yenagoa on Thursday, urged members of the public to disregard the threat, saying it was the handiwork of some faceless groups.

The commissioner said, “I want to appeal to the general public to come out in large numbers to welcome the President and the First Lady who have done so much for this country. So, these miscreants cannot disrupt the peace of Bayelsa.

“We have been enjoying peace and even on that day we will be celebrating because it is the day the President is coming, not necessarily as the PDP, but as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. So, they cannot come and tarnish the image of President in his home state. “

Ntomchukwu said the police would provide adequate security for the President’s wife and other political groups visiting the state for rallies, campaigns and legitimate businesses.

He asked the BYV and the MBB to desist from making such provocative and inciting statements, which he said, were capable of puncturing the existing peace in the state.

He added, “The police will not hesitate to deal decisively according to the extant laws with any such groups when arrested. I want to assure you that we are already trailing the Mangrove Boys anywhere they may be.

“So, my advice is that these boys should just go away from the state entirely because since they have done this publication, they have put themselves on the firing line and we are definitely going to pursue them.

“We are operating with intelligence and all the security agencies are at our disposal. As soon as we catch them, they will face the wrath of the law. Even though they are faceless, any time they become visible, we are definitely going to deal with them.

“We are asking the well meaning Nigerians to come forward and give information not only on these boys but on all criminal activities. We have already identified them by their names and we are trailing them.”

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The youths from Bayelsa creeks, under the auspices of the Mangrove Boys of Bayelsa, warned on Tuesday that if the First Lady failed to heed their warning, she would be thoroughly disgraced and have herself to blame.

The warning came a few days after the Bayelsa Youth Vanguard issued a similar statement barring Patience from attending the proposed rally.

Reinforcing the position of the BYV, the creek youths asked Mrs. Jonathan to steer clear of the rally in her own interest.

The youths, in a statement by their President, Opuyo Engobara, and Secretary, Warrman Aderi, accused the First Lady of aiding his anointed governorship aspirant, Waripamowei Dudafa, to recruit youths to boo and stone Governor Seriake Dickson, at the proposed rally.

They lamented President Goodluck Jonathan’s silence over the alleged excesses of his wife, wondering whether he intended to join in the stoning of the governor.

They said, “In her last visit to the state, Mrs. Jonathan came ahead of her husband, avoided the state Government Lodge and stayed at Otuoke for three days.

“During the time, she was busy sponsoring Dudafa’s recruitment drive with the intention to go against the governor by booing and stoning him at the planned rally to discredit his administration before the PDP National Executive Council.

“Is President Jonathan using this as a ploy to join Bayelsa youths to stone Governor Dickson as promised (by the President) during his presidential campaign in 2011 and subsequently to oust Dickson’s administration, since he could hardly rebuke his wife in several of her political atrocities?”

The creek agitators insisted that the presence of Patience at the proposed rally would cause tension and security breaches in the state.

They said Patience actions and pronouncement in recent times had allegedly been fuelling crisis in the state.

The youths listed eight sins of Patience and accused her of opening a new secretariat for the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria in the state with an intention to use the group to mobilise against the governor.

They alleged that the First Lady tinkered with the leadership of TAN and aided her loyalists to reposition the campaign group to actualise her ambition of removing Dickson.

The youths further lamented that Patience used the occasion of the sharing of the Millennium Development Goals items at the Samson Siasia Stadium to make inflammatory statements against the governor.

They recalled that Patience attended a function in Dudafa’s town and made open statements supporting him as the next governor.

The youths also alleged that Patience sponsored aspirants that failed in the PDP primaries, to defect to the All Progressives Grand Alliance.

They noted that the peace currently enjoyed in the state came from the hard work of the governor, reminiscing that in the previous government, Jonathan’s house was razed down in Otuoke by aggrieved militants.

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