Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri has said that his administration would not pamper the criminal activities of some elements in the state.
Senator Douye Diri who spoke at the opening ceremonies of a three-day program at the chief Harold Dappa Biriye Conference Centre expressed worry over the security situation in the state.
The governor enlisted sea piracy, drugs Abuse, human trafficking, among other criminal activities in Guinea as the state’s major security issues.
In a statement obtained by Africa Investigative Magazine, the governor bemoaned the spate of insecurity in the gulf, describing the maritime industry as the backbone to the global economy.
He vowed that his administration would leave no stone unturned to curb the excesses of criminals.
While appreciating the initiative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for their commitment, he added that his administration would support the body to actualize the goals of the project.
The governor also expressed the readiness to host the Gulf of Guinea Security Conference in collaboration with major stakeholders to unravel the root causes and design a regional approach to combat the scourge.
His words: “The malady might be preponderant in the Gulf of Guinea but it is equally a crisis of global dimension. Sadly, sea piracy is not the only security threat undermining us at sea and along our waterways.
It has also focused spotlights on wider complications of maritime insecurity such as trafficking and smuggling of humans, weapons, narcotics, and unregulated and illegal fishing.
“Bayelsa State is prepared to provide leadership and embrace international best practices to fight and prevent crime. I do not doubt that this project would be fundamentally beneficial to our people and state. We have traditional ties, through trade, religion, culture, and ethnicity across the subregion, and this creates a platform for our modern security collaboration,” he said
He equally called on the United Nations, its agencies, and partners to support his administration to empower the youths for development opportunities and make crime induced by drug abuse less attractive.
Diri also stated that to create an enabling environment to attract investors, his administration was rejigging the security architecture of the state and the enabling laws through collaboration with relevant security agencies.
The Bayelsa helmsman also called on the federal government to ensure equity in the allocation of resources to bring about peace as a lot of evidence shows that there was disquiet in the Niger Delta due to frustration resulting from the unsatisfactory unequal allocation of the resources from the region.
In his opening remarks, the United Nations Country Director on Drugs and Crime, Dr. Oliver Stolpe, revealed that the Gulf of Guinea was the most dangerous maritime area in the world with 25 sea piracy attacks in 2020.
Describing the rate of drug use in Nigeria as three times higher than the global average, Dr. Stolpe noted that an effective fight against insecurity can only be attainable if drug use was effectively controlled.
While appreciating the Diri administration for the initiative, he said it would enable local communities to put strategies and interventions in place to prevent crime and on stakeholders to leverage on the community-based approach to address drug use and prevention.
According to Staples, the program, which is a pilot initiative to test approaches, expressed the hope that it would be effective for other states to emulate and attract support from the federal government and international bodies.
