Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson has said the late Governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha abandoned his foreign medical trip midway.
Dickson, who spoke yesterday in Yenagoa, the state capital, in an emotion-laden state broadcast, said the late governor was a victim of orchestrated harassment.
Alamieyeseigha died last Saturday at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Though the governor did not name the forces behind the harassment, he said the maltreatment fast-tracked the death of the Ijaw hero.
Dickson was apparently alluding to the allegation that the purported extradition request by Britain forced the former governor to abandon his medical trip and led to health complications that killed him.
He warned against politicising Alamieyeseigha’s death, saying the incident should unite rather than divide the Ijaw.
Dickson said: “We acknowledge the anger the genuine sense of anger and disappointment and the sense of outrage held by our people at home and in the Diaspora and all well-meaning Nigerians and lovers of justice around the world for the way our leader was harassed, pounded and forced to abandon his treatment abroad.
“We condemn …the propaganda and the orchestrated harassment that led to his untimely death. However, it is our plea that this is not a time for recrimination and divisions.
“This is rather a time for unity and for sober reflection. I, therefore, call for all and sundry, particularly youths of this state and Niger Deltans and of the Ijaw nation, to remain calm and maintain the peace as we all unite and grieve to mourn our departed leader.
“I advise that we refrain from politicising our collective tragedy. This is a tragedy, a collective tragedy, and we should not politicise it. I advise that we join hands with the family to mourn with them and grieve with them and grieve with one another and work with the family and the government to ensure that we give him what he rightly deserved – a befitting state funeral.”
The governor announced the postponement of the official inauguration of his governorship campaign, earlier scheduled for October 17 in Yenagoa, in honour of Alamieyeseigha.
He noted that the nation, particularly the Ijaw, had lost a foremost statesman and leader.
Dickson said his administration was determined to give Alamieyeseigha a befitting state burial.
He said: “The state government is determined to accord him a befitting state burial. In this regard, a high-powered burial committee, led by the deputy governor, has been constituted. This committee will work out the details of the programme with the family and other relevant stakeholders.”
Dickson said Alamieyeseigha served the nation as a military officer, dedicating himself to the service to Bayelsa State and the Ijaw nation, as governor and in other capacities.
He said: “His selfless devotion and service to Bayelsa State and the Ijaw nation earned him the sobriquet ‘Governor-General’ of the ijaw nation in his lifetime.”
The governor said condolence registers had been opened at the Government House, the state secretariat complex, Ijaw House in Yenagoa and the state’s liaison offices in Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt, in honour of the deceased.
He said: “…Since my assumption of duty as governor, Chief Alamieyeseigha had been a pillar of support and encouragement and advice.
“He was a ready and dependable guide, a supporter and leader who availed at my disposal, his time, his experience; or to motivate me and to encourage me in the course of my service. In all these, his motivation was what was in the best interest of our people.”
“In all of these, he showed uncommon dedication and commitment to the service of our people. He showed firm and clear-headed leadership when it mattered most and he did this to the very end.
“At his passing, our nation has lost a great servant and bridge-builder. Our state and the Ijaw nation have lost a foremost statesman and a leader par excellence of this generation. Our government has lost a major pillar of support and encouragement. I have lost at a personal level a great leader and guide and father.
“I have suffered a personal and monumental loss at his death. Chief Alamieyeseigha …was a good man and he touched a lot of lives. He was amiable, generous and kind. All those who knew him can attest to this; all those who knew him and interacted with him have also suffered a personal loss as I have done.”
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