Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, has stated that the late military dictator, Sani Abacha, remains a hero to the people of his state.

Diri’s statement comes on the heels of the late military dictator creating the state 25 years ago on October 1, 1996.

The governor stated this during a thanksgiving service on Nigeria’s 61st independence which also marks Bayelsa’s 25th anniversary at the King of Glory Chapel in Government House, Yenagoa.

Governor Diri said, “Let me use this medium to thank one man. He may not be popular in Nigeria but to me and all of us Bayelsans, we see him as a great man, a hero. The man who by the stroke of the pen signed the creation of Bayelsa State.

“I am talking about the late General Sani Abacha.We acknowledge him as a state and people. By his singular assent, he created this state with just eight local government areas, which was less than the constitutional requirements.”