Sylva Denies Hiding John Togo

Following the manhunt by the security forces to capture the notorious Niger Delta militant leader, John Togo and accusation that the Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, is providing safe haven for Togo in Government House Yenagoa, Sylva has described the allegation as false and misleading.

In a statement endorsed by Dofie Ola, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Sylva, and made available to PMNEWS the governor denied the report attributed to Ekpein Appah, Obubra Camp Administrator, for the Federal Government’s Amnesty Programme, accusing Sylva of shielding the fugitive militant leader in Government House, Yenagoa.

The governor accused Appah, whom he said was a long-standing personal aide of former Presidential Adviser on Amnesty, Mr. Ndutimi Alaibe, of spreading falsehood by insinuating, without proof, that John Togo is being kept in Government House, Yenagoa, so that he can be used to foment trouble, including attacking political opponents of the governor.

“The report is unfair, irresponsible and disturbing. It is false in every material particular. Everyone who has followed the history of the Amnesty Programme in the Niger Delta knows that Bayelsa State represents the poster-child of its success. It was Governor Sylva who sold the idea of the programme to the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua,” the statement added.

It posited that “it is therefore unthinkable that the governor would want to do anything to undermine a programme he has invested inestimable institutional and personal resources.”

According to Ola,”Sylva has no reason whatsoever to shield John Togo or any wanted person from the law. No. The idea that John Togo is in Government House, Yenagoa, when he is not even from Bayelsa State, is simply laughable.”
By Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt