The Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, has dissociated himself and his office from the activities of his social media aide, Bodmas Kemepadei, who was arrested on Wednesday by operatives of the Department of State Services for posting inciting comments against the President Muhammadu Buhari.
The comments were contained in a video which Kemepadei posted on the social media that went viral, leading to his arrest.
Diri, who spoke through a statement by his Director of New Media, Kola Oredipe, on Wednesday, said that Kemepadei was on his own and added that he spoke as a private citizen.
Kemepadei, who is the governor’s Special Assistant on New Media, said in the video, “Nigerians are no longer safe; the only person who is safe in this country is President Muhammadu Buhari. And the only reason why Buhari is safe is that he understands that Nigeria is not safe and he has therefore isolated himself.
“My people, my Nigerians, all of you should wake up, all of you should wake up because nothing is working again in this country. The security architecture of this country has fallen. We don’t know our left, we don’t know our right. We don’t know where we are going as a people.”
But the governor in the statement titled, ‘Kemepadei spoke as a private citizen’, said, “Our attention has been drawn to the arrest of Mr. Bodmas Kemepadei by the Department of State Services over alleged inciting posts on the social media against President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Let it be clear that Kemepadei lacks the authority to speak directly for His Excellency, Senator Douye Diri, Governor of Bayelsa State.
“Kemepadei, a known blogger, film editor and online reporter, was appointed into the Bayelsa State Government New Media Team as a Special Assistant on New Media and works under the direct supervision of the Director, New Media, who co-ordinates all government new media activities.