The Bane of Underdevelopment in Bayelsa

The embarrassing activities of militants appear to have been resuscitated in Bayelsa State with the recent attack at the construction site of Elite Construction Company. Heavily armed gunmen struck at Sabagriea in Kolokuma/Opokuma local government area, abducting a Lebanese construction engineer whose name was given as Mr. David to an unknown destination.
Mr David who works for Elite Construction Company, was kidnapped in the afterrnoon of Wednesday March 4 2009. Eye witnesses said the suspected gunmen were heavily armed and sped off in a speed boat with their hostage through Igbedi Creek.. Elite Construction Company is handling the construction of the Polaku/Sabagriea road project under the auspices of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). A bridge linking the two sides of the road is currently under construction and was expected to be completed within the next 6 months. This abduction can prolong the expected completion dates by months if not carefully handled..
Security agencies are reported to be spreading their intelligence drag net in the area to secure the release of Mr. David.
The issue of kidnaps of development workers has been a source of shame and embarrassment to all well-meaning Bayelsans. To the the people of Kolokuma-Opokuma, this parfticular incident is asetback. The road under construction will help to bring Kolokuma-Opokuma Local Government Area closer to the seat of government in Yenagoa as the new road bypasses the East -West highway and Mbiama and makes travel to Yenagoa very direct and much shorter.
The Bayelsa State Government must embark on a social campaign to educate these ignorant and sick enemies of development that their economic prosperity can never be secured by criminal and selfish acts of hostage taking and ransoms. They are pulling Bayelsa State back and attempting to make it a pariah state that nobody would want to take a risk to live in or work in.