Youths arrest pipeline vandals in Bayelsa and get rewards from Dickson

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Dickson

It appears the warning by Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson to pipeline vandals, kidnappers and other criminals to leave the state or face the full weight of the law, is coming to pass, with the arrest of a group of armed youths said to have carried out the same act they were warned against.

The youths, said to be from Ikienghenbiri community in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, were allegedly arrested for vandalising a major oil pipeline in the state with dynamites.

The culprits, who were reportedly led by Suoyou, Iyelawei and Fyneboy, allegedly vandalised the pipeline along the Azuzuama – Ikienghenbiri axis of the trunk line conveying crude oil from the Nigerian Agip Oil Company flow station at Tebidaba to Brass.

A statement issued on Sunday in Yenagoa by the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Jonathan Obuebite, said the pipeline vandals were apprehended by youths of Azuzuama community, who got wind of the planned action.

Vandalised pipeline

They were arrested with the support of operatives of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and one of them was shot in the leg while trying to escape.

Obuebite expressed delight that the arrests were coming on the heels of Governor Seriake Dickson’s meeting with Traditional Rulers and Chairmen of Community Development Communities( CDC) where the Governor directly placed the responsibility of maintaining peace and safeguarding oil facilities in their domains on their shoulders.

The Commissioner praised the youths of Azuzuama Community "for their galantry, patriotic disposition and commitment to the peace and economic well being of the state and Nigeria as a whole."

According to him, Dickson would "invite them and reward them for responding positively to his clarion call when it mattered most."

Obuebite also called on other communities to emulate the Azuzuama community, adding that, "if every other communities can act in like manner, the current wave of attacks on national assets and related criminal acts will be drastically minimised, if not completely eliminated."

He reaasured community leaders and youths of government's preparedness to continue to support and partner with them in the protection of lives and property.