Police stop pro-Jonathan rally in Bayelsa

The police in Bayelsa State, yesterday, stopped members of a pro-Jonathan group from holding a rally over alleged infiltration of the group by miscreants.



Bayelsa is President Goodluck Jonathan’s home state.

The group, New Dawn Initiative Development, it was learnt, is made up of members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state loyal to an aide of the President.

A source told newsmen, “The rally by the New Dawn group was to kick start series of programme and activities targeted at the grassroots so that the message would gain attention ahead of the 2015 election as well as provide a message loud enough to reverberate in Aso Villa to the hearing of our President that his people earnestly yearns for him to continue the good work he has started through the vehicle of this well thought out transformation agenda.”

The event, billed for Opolo Secondary School field in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital was put on hold by the police based on alleged intelligence report of the plan by a group to cause mayhem at the venue.

But the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hilary Opara, in a statement, said the police decision to stop the rally was based on intelligence report that a group had planned to attack and disrupt the rally.

The statement reads, “This is to inform the general public that Bayelsa State Police Command has directed the members of the group known as New Dawn Initiative Development to reschedule their rally billed to take place at Opolo Secondary School, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State today.

”This was premised on the intelligence to the command that a splinter group had perfected plans to attack and disrupt the rally which could lead to breach of peace, coupled with the fact that the police did observe the actual gathering of the mob at the venue.”