Posted by Olatubosun Sowemimo on
My medical bills are piling, and as each day passes, I wonder who is going to pay… if I am going to pay, then I am truly in trouble."
My medical bills are piling, and as each day passes, I wonder who is going to pay… if I am going to pay, then I am truly in trouble."
With these words, Former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha yesterday expressed his frustration with the current trial by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
He also denied sponsoring violence in the Niger Delta region, an allegation levelled against him by EFCC. The commission had last Friday opposed Alamieyeseigha's bail application at a Federal High Court, Lagos on the ground that his release would further strengthen the Niger Delta militant groups unleashing violence in the area.
It also dismissed report of Alamieyeseigha's deteriorating health claiming that a report from the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan Oyo State, said, he was in a stable condition.
But Alamieyeseigha in a statement titled "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death" from his hospital bed in Lagos dismissed the allegations saying he was preoccupied with his rising legal fees and medical bills.
Said he: "But here I am, trapped on a hospital bed with unresolved cardiac issues, denuded of resources and the capacity to be the master of my own destiny.
"As I lie here, I am unable to meet the expensive legal bills foisted on me by the many strategies of those who prosecute me,… he noted.
He asked "Why do I need to sponsor violence? Am I not the one who, leading patriots and like minds, intervened over and over again in the Niger Delta crisis, until we were able to secure an armistice with these same militants? While in office, did we not guarantee the safety of oil workers and installations for six and a half years?"
He explained further that if he is not a man of peace, the wide-spread anarchy and violence he is alleged to be sponsoring now would have been of strategic value during his controversial impeachment and not now that he has lost it all.
Alamieyeseigha said these allegations would have been laughable if they weren't so grave. "How can I be responsible for the swirling anger of the people of the Niger Delta, which since the days of Isaac Boro has found expression in actions such as we see today? He stated.
He added that everyone witnessed the statements of one of the militant groups endorsing his impeachment and ensuing public flagellation during his crisis".