Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri has implored the Federal Government of Nigeria to learn from the São Tomé and Principe Governments by paying serious attention to the security of all its citizens.
He stated this against the backdrop of the promptness and concern with which the São Tomé and Principe authorities moved to take custody of the country’s fishermen who were found and rescued in Bayelsa State days after they got lost while fishing in the Atlantic Ocean.
Diri spoke at the “Unveiling of a New Media Campaign for Promoting Projects and Programmes Commemorating 2023 World Social Media Day/Launching of Prosperity 2.0”, organised by the state government’s New Media with the theme, “The New Media Paradigm: A New Gateway to Prosperity”, in Yenagoa.
The Bayelsa governor had on Thursday formally handed over the three São Tomé and Principe fishermen to their country’s Head of Mission in Nigeria, Pires Dos Santos Aguia, at the Government House, Yenagoa.
Two of them, Antonio Sabino and Osorio Pires, were rescued by fishermen from Okpoama in Brass Local Government of the state, while the third was said to be rescued by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency.
He emphasised that the life of every citizen no matter how lowly placed was important, stressing that that was the message embedded in the manner the São Tomé and Principe government went about ensuring that their fishermen were taken home safely after their rescue in a foreign land.
He noted that too many lives were being wasted in Nigeria and urged the Federal Government to stop the national carnage.
Diri, while highlighting the hospitable nature of the Ijawman, said, “Just yesterday, by the very good deeds of some of our citizens, Bayelsans from Brass LGA and Okpoama, they made us proud.