The management of Darlon Oil and Gas Limited has distanced its Chief Executive Officer, Chief David Lyon, from a crisis allegedly currently brewing in Bilabiri 1 & 2 communities in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
In a statement issued in Yenagoa, the company said that the clarification became necessary following a news publication signed by one Lucky Tubotu, who insinuated that Lyon is arming militants to terrorize the Bilabiri 1 & 2 communities.
Lucky Tubotu was quoted to have said that: “Ebimene Abaka (Small Fire) claimed that David Lyon, the erstwhile Governor elect of Bayelsa State, gave him a contract in the oil and gas sector, hence the armed militants were invited to the community for the job. We wonder if armed criminal gang work for David Lyon?”
But according to the company, the news story is not only false but a figment of the imagination of the author and his sponsors, who are allegedly bent on tarnishing the reputation of the former Bayelsa governor-elect.
The management of Darlon further explained that the Bilabiri 1 & 2 communities in question are not within the operational area of the oil servicing company.
They demanded that the author and sponsors of the news item should immediately retract the publication which it describes as defamatory.
“We are, therefore, calling on the general public to disregard the unfounded and malicious allegations peddled against our revered principal, Chief David Lyon.
“We are also using this medium to warn that any further airing of the maliciously fabricated story aimed at tarnishing the image of our revered principal, Chief David Lyon, will be dealt with in court,” the statement reads in part.