Youths Throw Pure Water At Gov Sylva

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Category: Politics
Published on Saturday, 23 October 2010 21:26
Written by Tribune
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The two-day visit of President Goodluck Jonathan to Bayelsa State was almost disrupted on Friday when some youths protested and threw sachets of water at the state governor, Mr Timipre Sylva.

Trouble was said to have started when the governor, after mounting the podium to deliver his welcome address, was booed by the youth and, after some minutes, started throwing sachets of water in the direction of the governor.

It took the intervention of security operatives to restore normalcy as the visiting president looked in disbelief.

Apart from the president, ministers and National Assembly members, Governors Rotimi Amaechi (River), Liyel Imoke (Cross Rivers), Theodore Orji (Abia) and Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta) witnessed the incident.

Security had been beefed up ahead of the visit even as the entire South-South was mobilised for the event which held at the Samson Siasia Stadium, Yenegoa.

But as soon as the president arrived at the venue at about 2.10 pm, Saturday Tribune noticed signs of uneasy calm as some  middle aged men and women became agitated.

As soon as Sylva mounted the podium to deliver his speech, spontaneous musings rent the air, gradually culminating in shouts.

As Sylva continued with his address, the atmosphere became charged with the shouts of disapproval gaining momentum.

Curiously, President Jonathan did not react to the incident in his response to the governor’s speech, even though the podium had to be cleared before he could mount it.

Earlier in his address, Governor Sylva said his administration planned to create 10,000 jobs by the end of the year as part of a comprehensive package targeted at poverty reduction, adding that provision had been made for the Quick Win Project to cost about N6.4bn.

“From January 2011, we will eliminate paperwork from the running of key government business in Bayelsa State,” he assured.

In  his reaction, the state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Nath Egba, said the protesters were being sponsored by the aggrieved opponents of Governor Sylva.

According to him, the aim was to embarrass the governor before the president to make him to have a re-think of supporting the governor.