*British Govt Lauds Crime Prevention Partnership With State
Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Douye Diri, has vowed to continuously clamp down on illicit drugs peddling and criminal activities in Yenagoa and other parts of the state.
Governor Diri issued the warning on Thursday during the 42nd state security council meeting in Government House, Yenagoa, while speaking on last weekend’s demolition of a drug dealers hideout, popularly known as Aboki Quarters, at Yenizue-Gene by a combined team of security agencies in the state.
He warned that more demolitions will take place anywhere such locations are identified in the state.
He said he gave the directive for the demolition when the activities in the area was brought to his attention and commended the service commanders for the swift operation.
The governor stated that he learnt from visiting the area that those displaced have moved to a location opposite the demolished site and directed the security agencies to beam their searchlight on the area.
The Bayelsa helmsman insisted that his government will not encourage building of shanties where drugs are used to harm vulnerable youths and destroy their lives.
He said: “Let me use this opportunity to commend the service commanders for the operation at the illicit drug centre at Yenizue-Gene that was brought to my notice and I gave approval for that place to be brought down. The Commissioner of Police, the 16 Brigade Commander, the Director of the State Security Services and all of you that were involved in that operation, thank you.
“I hear that there is a place opposite that particular point. I went there myself and I have seen it. You have to put your eyes there.
“We cannot continue to encourage shanties where drugs will be used in the state. So, please, service commanders take another look at that place where we have already taken action and ensure that we also bring it down.”
The governor, however, clarified that nobody was chasing non-indigenes out of the state, emphasising that Bayelsa was one of the safest and most hospitable places in Nigeria for non-natives to live and do business.
He equally frowned at the recent activities of rival cult groups that led to the death of three persons and directed that the culprits be arrested.
Present at the meeting was the Deputy High Commissioner of the British High Commission, Gill Lever, who visited the state for an assessment of a British government programme, Brighter Futures, a crime prevention outreach in partnership with the state government.
Lever said the visit was to brief the governor about the partnership in the last three years alongside three other states in the country.
According to her, the programme’s target is to curb cultism and illicit drugs at the grassroots as well as bringing vulnerable young people out of crime and equipping them with vocational skills to give them their own livelihood.
She commended the state government for prioritising security and youth empowerment, stating that more than 200 youths have been trained with vocational skills and equipped with the necessary tools to engage in self-reliant work.
The Commissioner for Youth Development, Alfred Nimizigha, whose ministry facilitates the programme on behalf of the state government, also praised the governor for adequately supporting the scheme and for surpassing the expectation of the British High Commission.
He said the programme has focused on agriculture and skills development among youths of the state.
