Some of the young men nabbed after they bore down on Goodluck Jonathan’s convoy in Yenagoa as he campaigned for PDP governorship standard bearer in the State, Seriake Dickson, have put their arrests down to a misunderstanding.

News quickly spread across the social media space that the men were assassins hired by the APC’s Timipre Sylva to snuff the life off Jonathan in broad daylight.

It took the Commissioner of Police in the State to calm frayed nerves.

Speaking to The Guardian at the Kaiama venue of the APC campaign rally organised for its governorship candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva, the youths said there was a case of mistaken identity and misunderstanding between them and the security detail of former President Jonathan.

Emmanuel Nanyo, Walter Bala, Toiene Easter and Ben Belendayo said they had arrived the state capital on Monday morning for the party’s rally at Swali Market, Yenagoa and that after the event, they were in their own car when a convoy went by which they joined, believing that it belonged to that of Sylva. They said they followed a particular army vehicle, believing it was providing security cover for the APC candidate.

“We thought the army vehicle was part of Sylva’s security cover,’’ said Emmanuel Nanyo, who spoke for the group.

“We didn’t know it was Dr. Jonathan’s convoy and we didn’t even see him throughout the incident. The soldiers in the vehicle flagged us down and took us to the Ekeki Police Station, where they handed us over to the policemen there. We were released about three hours later, on the orders of the state commissioner of police.”

Their version of the incident tallies with that of the police issued on the day.