By Adesakin Adefemi
Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State has sacked the paramount ruler of Ogboinbiri community, Okosughe Eseimokumo, and dissolved all leadership structures in the Southern Ijaw Local Government town following a violent clash that left multiple people dead and houses razed.
In a statement issued Friday by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, Diri said the drastic action became necessary after Tuesday’s bloodshed defied several peace interventions. A dusk-to-dawn curfew had already been imposed on Ogboinbiri in the wake of the attack.
The governor announced the immediate dissolution of the council of chiefs, the community development committee, CDC, and all youth bodies operating in Ogboinbiri. He said the structures would remain suspended until lasting peace returns to the oil-producing community.
Diri directed Deputy Governor Peter Akpe and Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs Thompson Amule to set up an interim committee to run the affairs of Ogboinbiri. The committee will oversee the community pending restoration of order and reconciliation.
“I had set up different committees to resolve the lingering conflict there to no avail. I even directed my deputy to intervene. I invited the traditional ruler and the youths to my office in Yenagoa and yet, recently, there was killing and burning of houses,” Diri said in the statement.
The governor disclosed that Eseimokumo had not yet been formally recognised by the state government. “I was waiting for peace to be restored for us to recognise him but, unfortunately, I am very sure he cannot hold that community together. We must say no to the evil acts in Ogboinbiri,” he added.
Diri ordered security agencies to arrest and prosecute all those implicated in the violence. He stressed that the government would not tolerate impunity and that community leaders must be held accountable for failing to prevent breakdowns of law and order.
He expressed concern over recurring violence in oil-producing communities, linking many of the crises to disputes over proceeds from oil companies. Diri noted that struggles over benefits and contracts have repeatedly triggered killings and arson across Bayelsa.
The Ogboinbiri clash is the latest in a series of communal conflicts that have unsettled parts of Southern Ijaw LGA. With the monarch sacked and all community organs dissolved, the state government says it will only restore traditional leadership once peace is guaranteed and monitored.
