An operation by personnel of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at Okolobiri in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State has thrown the community into mourning after two young men from the town drowned while attempting to escape arrest by the NDLEA men.
Diepreye Diete and a yet to be identified man had jumped into Taylor creeks,one of the many that criss cross the area, on March 26 on sighting the NDLEA operatives.
The deceased and about 13 other youths ,according to an eyewitness, had gathered in a notorious hideout in the town smoking hemp on the fateful day when the NDLEA operatives drove into town.
They rode in four trucks.
The hemp-smoking session quickly broke up as soon as the boys sighted the law enforcement officers from afar off.
One after the other,they took to their heels,desperate to escape being caught by the officers.
And they all headed in one direction only:Tayloy creek.
As if directed by an unseen hand the boys began to take a plunge into the water.
After much effort, 13 of them made it to safety at neighbouring Obunagha, leaving Diepreye and the other unaccounted for.
Their corpses were later retrieved by community members after floating on the creek.
An indigene of the community who identified himself simply as Piriye, said the deceased were apparently smoking cannabis in an open building when the incident occurred.
Piriye said: “The youths usually gathered at the place to smoke cannabis. Community members had, in the past, alerted the police about the activities of these youths who were using the community to commit violent crimes in the state capital.
” A few days to the presidential election, the youths gathered as usual and on sighting NDLEA patrol vehicles, they panicked and jumped into the Taylor creek. But unknown to them, that part of the water is shallow and contains dangerous objects. They must have hit their heads on those objects.”
Another indigene, who claimed to be a relation of Diepreye, Mr. Panebi Jones, said the deceased was an student of the of the state-owned Niger Delta University (NDU), Amassoma.
He expressed disgust at the use of illicit drugs by youths but he flayed the anti-drug agency for not making any attempt to save the drowning men first.
Jones threatened to petition the agency for what he called unprofessional act.
He said: “It is true the incident occurred. It happenned precisely a few days to the presidential election. That was the second time the incident was taking place in the area.
“The boys who were involved in smoking weeds, afraid of being arrested wanted to escape through the creek.
“The NDLEA men did not make any arrest. Two of the boys drowned while others escaped. We want to call on the NDLEA that if they are fighting drug users, they should also try to save them and not allow them to die.
“They should have rescued them first and then arrest them. The essence of pursuit is to arrest. Incidentally, they did not make any arrest. The two incidents, there was no single arrest. So, the aim of going there was defeated.”
He added: “Nobody supports illegal drug use or sale in any community. They should have rescued the drowning persons first instead of allowing them to die.”
When contacted, the Bayelsa Command of the agency, said it was not aware of the death of the two youths.
Principal Staff Officer, Public Affairs, Mr. Ikenna Osakwe, however, said some drug dealers were arrested on that day.
He said: “Our operatives are not swimmers. As soon as we want to apprehend offenders and they jump into the river, our men usually leave the scene. So, anybody accusing our men is just being mischievous.
“Nobody made any report to us. As an agency, we are more concerned with drug dealers in terms of arrest. But as for drug users, when we arrest them, we take them for rehabilitation.”
An earlier raid by the agency in the area on January 25 also claimed two lives.
One Meipor Ebinimias and an unnamed friend of his dived into a creek while attempting to escape only to get drowned.