Hostage taking better than armed robbery - Bayelsa Gov

Soji Ajibola, Yenagoa - 25.11.2007

BAYELSA State governor, ChiefTimipre Sylva on Saturday admitted that the hostage takers terrorising the state are not faceless people as he admitted that they are known people, just as he called for an increase in the presence of Nigeria Navy in the state.

In his address at the Nigeria Union of Journalists, National Executive Council meeting held in Yenagoa, the governor, through his deputy, Hon. Peremobowei Ebebi, while condemning the media reports on the security situation in the state, said hostage taking is not as dreadful as cases of armed r obbery in some states.

His words: “In some states you cannot even carry a briefcase in the broad day, in Bayelsa you can move around at anytime, even in the night.

“We have only militants who have a cause they are pursuing as a result of cumulative neglect of the proverbial goose that lays the golden egg.

“At least we know the hostage takers, and we talk to them, unlike the armed robbers that you don’t even know, which is even a bigger risk than hostage taking situation.

‘We came up with a principle of the ‘Triple ‘E’ approach. The first is to engage them in dialogue and re-orient them. The second is to empower the people, educate and employ them, and of course, enforce the law where necessary.”