From Tayese Mike, Yenagoa

As the 2023 election season approaches, youths in the country have been charged to see it as a veritable opportunity to change the stereotype that they are only good enough for perpetrating electoral violence.

The Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, gave the charge at separate meetings with youth leaders from Brass and Nembe Local Government Areas at his office in Government House, Yenagoa.

Senator Ewhrudjakpo said the issue of electoral violence had become a major threat to democracy in the country as it infringes on the right of the people to freely elect leaders of their choice.

Reminding the youths of the two areas that election was a civic responsibility and not a declaration of war, the Deputy Governor urged them to avoid the kind of violence that claimed lives and disrupted the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, campaigns at Nembe in November 2019.

On insecurity, Senator Ewhrudjakpo urged the youth leaders to play the key role of monitoring everybody who comes into their areas and promptly alert security agencies of any suspicious movements.

He said considering the gallantry of Bayelsa youths, no criminal can terrorize any community in the state and go scot free when they rise up to the occasion.

Senator Ewhrudjakpo, who also used the opportunity to caution the youths to steer clear of drug abuse, said the social menace was fast destroying society.

He informed that the State Government would in no distant time collaborate with the Drug Abuse Prevention and Rehabilitation Committee to organize a youth seminar on the dangers of substance abuse.

Commenting on the issue of widespread cultism, the Deputy Governor noted that those involved in the unwholesome practice have lost their personal liberty and freedom.

According to him, cultists live in constant fear of being attacked and killed by rival groups, and therefore, advised the youths to avoid cultism outright to safeguard their future.

His words: “Let me start by saying that election is not a war. Violence in elections is a major issue in our state. Electoral violence deprives us of choosing the right people.

“it also deprives us of good leadership. We want to encourage you to shun electoral violence, as government will not tolerate it in the 2023 elections.

” Secondly, you know everybody in your communities and we are beginning to think that the role of youth presidents should be escalated. We want to form vigilantes in our communities to be jointly funded by local governments and the state government.

“You are in position to lubricate this process, because at the end of the day, you would be the ones to monitor and supervise the vigilantes.”

Speaking at the meeting, the Chairman of Nembe Local Government Area, Mr. Alalibo West, said drug abuse was destroying the youths and charged them to expose those dealing in drugs in their communities.

On his part, the Chairman of the Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, Central Zone, Comrade Clever Inodu, noted that insecurity had given the state a bad name.

Mr. Inodu, who appealed to the youths to embrace peace, cautioned them against taking actions capable of driving away investors from the state.

Also speaking, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Security Matters, CP Akpoebi Agberebi (Rtd.), drew a correlation between drug abuse, cultism and crime in society.

Stressing the dangers and the need to repent from the unwholesome acts, he said his personal investigations revealed that over 7,000 young Bayesans were involved in cultism.

On his part, the state Commissioner of Police, CP Nebolisa Okolo, expressed preparedness of the state command to work with all stakeholders including the youths to bring crime and criminality to its barest level in Bayelsa.

In their contributions, the representative of 16th Brigade Commander, Nigerian Army, Major M.A. Oduleye, and his Operation Delta Safe counterpart, Major David Nienge, debunked the notion that military officers protecting oil facilities were indifferent to security challenges in their immediate host communities.

They equally called on the youths to always provide real time intelligence to the security agencies across the state for swift response.