Bayelsa State Government has restated its commitment to peace and security as a first order priority, assuring that no community will exist as an ungoverned space in the state.
The state Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, gave the assurance on Monday during a meeting with the leadership of Tarakiri Kingdom, Egbemo-Angalabiri Community and heads of security agencies at his office in Government House, Yenagoa.
A statement by his media aide, Mr Doubara Atasi, quoted the Deputy Governor as saying that government would continue to work closely with security agencies at all levels to provide top-notch security to engender peace and socioeconomic development in the state.
To this end, Senator Ewhrudjakpo assured that the security architecture will be further strengthened to make it impossible for non-state actors to overrun and supplant duly constituted authority in any Bayelsa community.
Addressing the Egbemo-Angalabiri crisis, the Deputy Governor lamented that as a Tarakiri son, he was ashamed that the community has been in the news for the wrong reasons for quite some time now.
He noted that Egbemo-Angalabiri is not the only oil-bearing community in the state, and therefore, wondered why its indigenes were always embroiled in crises leading to the loss of lives and valuable property.
While promising that government would wade into the current crisis that led to the killing of one Mr Funkeye Lucky, Senator Ewhrudjakpo conveyed the condolences of the state government to the bereaved family.
He equally charged the Chairman of Ekeremor Local Government Council, Barrister Belemu Nemine, the Tarakiri Council of Chiefs and prominent people of the Community including the Deputy Speaker of the state assembly, Hon Michael Ogbere, to also make efforts towards resolving the problem.
His words:”The security agencies will compare notes and ascertain what is on ground at Egbemo-Angalabiri. We have our own means of getting justice across to those who deserve justice.
“I like to once again appeal to every aggrieved person, particularly the bereaved family not to take the laws into your hands because no two wrongs can ever make a right. We have always emphasised that whenever such things happen, there is law enforcement.
“The arm of the law appears to be short but once it catches up with you, you cannot loose yourself from its clutches. We will do everything to maintain our powers as a government.
“We will not allow any community to be overrun by non state actors to become an ungoverned space. We are going to push far in this regard because our leniency is being wrongly interpreted as incapacity and weakness.”
In his contribution, the Pere of Tarakiri, His Majesty King (Dr) Seiyifa Koroye, noted that his investigations revealed that the current crisis in Egbemo-Angalabiri might not be unconnected to the existing rivalry between two staff of a private oil facility security company who are locked in supremacy battle in the community.
King Koroye condemned the gun-totting allegedly going on in Egbemo-Angalabiri and called on government and security agencies to act fast to forestall escalation of the crisis.
In their separate submissions, the Acting Paramount Ruler of Egbemo-Angalabiri, Chief Ayakurai Goment, CDC Chairman, Puduku Inetimi, Women Leader, Mrs Lovina Lokiri and Chief Amanda Abraham, acknowledged the efforts of conventional security agencies but pleaded with the state government’s speedy intervention to restore normalcy in the community.
Also speaking, representatives of the bereaved family, Chief Dickson Okpokunou and Mr Dennis Wilson, said their son, Mr Funkeye Lucky, allegedly killed by operatives of a private security company on 1st of March this year had never engaged in any oil bunkering activities in his lifetime.
They called on the state government to prevail on the killers of Mr Lucky to make his corpse available to the family for proper burial.
Those who attended the meeting included the Deputy Speaker of state House of Assembly, Hon. Michael Ogbere, Commissioner of Police, Mr Alonyenu Idu, the State Director of Security, Mr Ben Akinkunmi, and a representative of the Commander, 16 Brigade, Lt Colonel Y. Micah.
Others are the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government, Chieftaincy Affairs and Community Development, Mr Collins Ifidi, the Caretaker Committee Chairman of Ekeremor LGA, Mr Belemu Nemine and the Chairman, Tarakiri Council of Chiefs, Dr Bertola Perekeme.