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The camp of Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State suffered a setback on Monday following the resignation of three members of his cabinet.

The Commissioner for Youths, Conflict Resolution and Employment Generation, Mr. Etifa Bekeakpo; the Senior Special Assistant on Orientation, Mr. Gesije Isowo; and Special Adviser on Interparty Relations, Mr. Stephen Diver, reportedly resigned their appointments.

While Isowo and Diver left their jobs two weeks ago, Bekeakpo resigned his appointment on Monday.

Our correspondent learnt that the aides predicated their resignations on their desire to join private business and create time for their family members.

But investigations by our correspondent showed that there were mixed feelings over the development.

It was gathered that the aides had already been penciled down for sacking by Sylva for their overt and covert support to the Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate for the February 2012 election in the state, Mr. Seriake Dickson.

The governor was said to have planned to sack Bekeakpo for allegedly allowing his premises to be used by the camp of Dickson to coordinate delegates from Ekeremor Local Government Area on the eve of the primary.

He was also said to be angry that Isowo had allegedly been hobnobbing with Dickson’s camp and that he was the only government official that participated in the controversial primary.

Diver was said to have been wooed to the camp of Dickson by DSP Alamesiegha and the former state PDP Chairman, Mr. Rufus Abadi, who incidentally hailed from his Otuan community in Amasoma.

The Commissioner for Information, Mr. Nathan Egba, who confirmed the resignations to our correspondent in Yenagoa, however, said the development had not affected the loyalty in the governor’s camp.

Meanwhile, the arrest and detention of over 70 supporters of Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State by security operatives have generated controversy and further frustrated Sylva’s battle against his disqualification by the Peoples Democratic Party.

Our correspondent gathered that the loyalists of the governor, consisting of PDP ward chairmen, had left the state for the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, on Sunday, to protest the contentious primary election and disqualification of Sylva at the party’s National Headquarters.

But Sylva, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Doifie Ola, on Monday, said the supporters were on their way to Abuja to show solidarity with the governor over the suit of INEC against the tenure of five PDP governors at the Supreme Court.

“I feel very sad for someone to stop us from moving from one place to another for no reason. I thought they were going to check our vehicle for any incriminating object. But they just stopped our movement in an era of the rule of law,” he said.

The governor condemned the action of the the security operatives, pointing out that it was a reenactment of the dark days of military regime.

“This is another in the series of recent happenings by agents of the Federal Government to trample democracy in the face and truncate the rights of Bayelsa people to freely decide their political future.”

-Punch