Former Bayelsa State
Governor Chief Timipre Sylva has denied any involvement in the October 1, 2010
bombings in Abuja.
A state witness in the
Independence Day bombing in Abuja, simply identified as ‘Mr. X’ had on
Wednesday claimed in his testimony that Sylva had foreknowledge of the blast.
But the former governor’s media
aide, Doifie Ola, denied the claim, saying the attempt is to rope in Sylva with
treason.
“For the avoidance of doubt, we
wish to state that the so-called testimony is completely false, mischievous and
misleading. Sylva knows nothing about the Independence Day bombing. He has
nothing to do with it.
“It is public knowledge that
the alleged mastermind of the October 1, 2010 Abuja bombing, Mr. Henry Okah,
who is currently standing trial in a South African court, has deposed to an
affidavit in which he did not mention Sylva as having any links to the blast,”
Sylva said in a statement made available to National Mirror.
Sylva, therefore, wondered what
the State Security Services (SSS) wanted to achieve with the falsehood by the so-called
independent witness.
His words: “Besides, the
testimony by the unnamed witness smells of obvious desperation to drag Sylva
into what he knows nothing about, perhaps, in continuation of the deliberate
political victimisation that has been meted out to him in recent times. It is
sad that after all they have done against Sylva, the forces of reaction appear
not yet satisfied. Now, they want to rope him into a treasonable offence he did
not commit. That way, it would be easy to silence him forever since under our
laws the punishment for treason is death.
“Nigerians have in recent
history been witnesses to the fates of innocent citizens who were sent to their
early graves or incarcerated unjustly on phantom charges of concealment. Having
emerged from that ugly past, the security agencies and the political class must
be careful to avoid things that may re-enact the bad political times.
“Sylva dissociates himself
completely from the Independence Day bombing issue and advises the security
agencies to strive to do their job professionally and not taint it with
politics.”