Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri, has called on the Federal Government to make concerted effort to bring to an end the banditry and terrorism ravaging states in the northern part of the country.
Governor Diri lamented that too many lives have been lost to the insurgency, saying the Federal Government must do all in its powers to end the scourge.
He spoke on Friday at the palace of Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar III in Sokoto when he paid a condolence visit alongside Governor Aminu Tambuwal over the death of a member of the Sultanate Council, Alhaji Hassan Danbaba.
The late Danbaba was the Magajin-gari Sokoto and a grandson of the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello.
While commiserating with the Sultan, Governor Tambuwal and people of Sokoto State, the Bayelsa governor said the late Danbaba was dear to the state and Nigeria, noting that his sudden demise was a shock not only to the people of Sokoto but indeed the whole country.
He explained that he would have visited earlier when he first heard about the sad loss but that activities marking the second anniversary of his administration, which just ended, delayed him.
He said: “Your Eminence, I am here on behalf of the good people of Bayelsa State and my Prosperity Administration to commiserate with you, the governor and people of Sokoto State.
“Death is a necessary end that will come when it will come. None of us has control over it.
“Our prayer is that whenever we come to Sokoto, it would not be as a result of death again. Instead, we will come to this great kingdom to be happy and make merriment with you.
“We are also not unaware of the banditry that has claimed so many lives in this state and other parts of the North. Again, on behalf of the people of my state, I commiserate with you over the lives that have been lost.
“I therefore call on the Federal Government and the military to redouble their effort to stop the banditry in the North. We are like a system where one part of the country is sick, the rest of the country is also sick. We cannot fold our arms in Bayelsa State believing that all is well when it is not well with our brothers in Sokoto.
“I appeal to the Federal Government to do all it would take to stop the banditry so our people can breathe and sleep with their two eyes closed. So that they can go about their legitimate businesses without fear of being attacked.”
The Bayelsa helmsman, who commended his Sokoto counterpart, Aminu Tambuwal, for the level of development in the state, said evidence abound that he is working like other Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors in the country.
“Like the National Chairman of our party said, Governor Tambuwal is working. I am even taken aback by the level of development I have seen in the state. I pray that God will provide the resources for him to continue to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people of Sokoto.”
In his remarks, Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar III thanked Governor Diri for the visit and for identifying with people of the state in their moment of grief.
His words: “At the appointed time, every one of us will answer the great call. It is only the Almighty God that knows when is the appointed time.”
The Sultan commended the governor on his second anniversary in office and for providing what he described as very strong leadership as attested to by many leaders in the country.
He prayed for God’s guidance to continue to steer the ship of Bayelsa on the path of peace and development.