Bayelsans cry, jeer over death of operation ‘kill and throw away’

Sun News

15 October 2011

Bayelsans cry, jeer over death of operation ‘kill and throw away’

Behind the Samson Siasia Sports Complex, opposite the government jetty, along the Market Estate road, in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, is an imposing and impenetrable fence protecting four buildings from the prying eyes of the public. The sand bags and the stern looking armed policemen wearing black jackets, with Operation Famou Tangbei (OFT) inscribe on it, readily tells a first time visitor that this is in the territory of the Bayelsa State Police command. What the person may not know is that “tangbei,” in Ijaw means “kill and throw away.”

Established in 2008, after the Bayelsa State Security Council approved its formation to curb the increasing crime wave, the outfit was made independent of the Joint Military Force (JTF).  Between 2008, when it began its operations, and 2011, when it was disbanded on the orders of the Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Hafiz Ringim, OFT had etched its name in the minds of Bayelsans for good and evil.