Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development has lambasted Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State for accusing him of sponsoring militants to kill people in the state…

Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri and Gov. Seriake Dickson

Lokpobiri in a statement said: “As a matter of fact, the people of Bayelsa State and indeed the Ijaw nation know me and my pedigree so well and do not need any response from me to discern the truth in this regard.”

“That I was with my kith and kin at Ekeremor from December 31, 2017 to January 2, 2018 to celebrate the New Year with a football match, wrestling contest and fanfare made Governor Dickson claim that he had evidence that the militant, Kareowei, and his killers were in Ekeremor, celebrating with me, is not only false but wicked and most ungodly.”

“The same militant even came to threaten me on the eve of the New Year and fired some rounds at Rivers before zooming off. Interestingly, I shared my thoughts on the incident with one of our most respected security officers on my way to Abuja for a meeting with the President and the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at the Presidential Villa on the 3rd of January, 2018.”

“The accusation of the purchase of arms and equipment for the militant is also a figment of the imagination of Dickson. I do not have anything to do with the militant and I have never met him.”