Egwe Kingdom Raises Alarm Over Invasion, Attacks on Elepe Oil field by Mingi of Nembe, Daukoru

The good people of Egwe kingdom of Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State has appealed to president Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Douye Dori, Balyesa State to come to their rescue due to a recurring invasion of Elepe Oil field, a fishing settlement in the community by the Mingi of Nembe, HIS King Edmud Maduabebe Daukoru and Senator Nimi Barigha Amanage.

According to Excel Yerindideke Toriomo, one of the community leaders who also served as spokesperson stated that “The Elepa oil field, a fishing settlement in Egwe-Kingdom (Egweama Community) in Brass L G A of Bayelsa State was repugnantly invaded on June 12th, 2023 by the Mingi of Nembe HRM King Edmund Maduabebe Daukoru, Senator Nimi Barigha-Amange, Mr. Patrick Derri, a large number of youths and some unidentified men in military camouflage. The community was plagued by these men who were ferried in thirteen boats; each boat filled to its capacity with able bodied men, who were dutifully adorned in complete war regalia, carrying all the insignia of traditional battle, chanting war songs, shooting sporadically into the air, making deep spiritual incantations and provocative pronouncements”.

Toriomo however, said this invasion did not come as a surprise to all those who were in the meeting where the representative of The Mingi of the Nembe Kingdom in the person of Mr. Patrick Derri told the people of Egwe-Kingdom that “it will not be easy when the Nembe Kingdom will rise to take over the Elepa oil field.” The only surprise is the unsophisticated and illegal manner with which the threat was executed. It was an unwarranted affront on the leaders and the good people of Egweama Community which caused reasonable emotional damages on the likes of Selekeowei Nathan, Stella Crispin and Gbedigiyo Jacob who scampered for safety at the sight of a war situation brazenly occasioned by those who have no respect for neither the territorial integrity of other communities nor the extant laws of the state.

The above mentioned names were going about their daily activities in the most peaceful manner expected of law abiding citizens within the Elepa fishing settlement in the Egwe-Kingdom when they were ambushed by those who were on a pointless show of force to cause breach of peace through their trespass, harassment and threat to life. After one month, on the 12th of July 2023, another group of militants and unidentified men on military camouflage from the Nembe kingdom invaded the same fishing settlement and kidnapped a certain Innocent who is an indigene of Egwe Kingdom. It took the profuse pleading of his grandmother and other women around to secure his release after he was captured and dumped in one of the speed boats they came in. these men gave a stern warning that people from Egwe Kingdom should vacate the fishing settlement.

Unfortunately, this second attack was carried out on the very day the state government scheduled a meeting to make peace between the two communities. This depicts the magnitude of lawlessness that characterizes the actions of these men from Nembe Kingdom. It is important to categorically state it here that the good people of the Egwe Kingdom do not have any case with the Nembe Kingdom. It is the Nembe Kingdom that has continued to drag themselves into the case between The Shell Petroleum Dev. Co. (Nig) Ltd (SPDC) and the Egweama community. The desperation of the Nembe Kingdom and their hysterical disposition as regards the Elepa Oil Field poses a lot of questions to what might be the true intent of their fight over this minute portion of the earth that apparently does not belong to them. We are persuaded that the motivation of the Nembe Kingdom is beyond the desire for resource control and we strongly suspect an uncanny craving for unnecessary supremacy and primitive domination. Our suspicion is sustained by the fact that we have secured victory in all the concluded court cases we have over the Elepa Oil Field. The latest appeal court judgment was delivered on Monday, the 13th day of February, 2023 by his lordship Olabode Abimbola Adegbehimgbe (J C A) with appeal number CA/PH/669/2014. We are not just making baseless claims; what we have cited is a verifiable public document.

It is pertinent to bring to the notice of His Excellency that the portion of land on which these Nembe leaders and youths stood is in Brass Local Government Area and rightfully belongs to the Egwe-Kingdom. It is a common knowledge that the people of Egweama Community from time are the customary owners of the Elepakiri (Elapa oil field); a fishing settlement that they have enjoyed the exclusive right to all the accruable benefits till date. It beats our imaginations that men with the level of education and exposure as HRM King Edmund Maduabebe Daukoru, Senator Nimi Barigha-Amange and Mr. Patrick Derri could co-ordinate and participate in a demeaning attack on a community outside their local government area. We, the leaders and people of Egweama Community, in strong terms, condemn this unprovoked attack on our territory and innocent inhabitants and call on all stakeholders in the Niger Delta region and all well meaning Nigerians to do same and to call the Nembes to order.

His Excellency, every adult in the Egweama Community understands the message sent by the Mingi and his desperate cohorts. Nonetheless, we believe that this is the twenty-first century and not the Stone Age when men had the dispositions of the jungle; celebrating ruthlessness and cruelty and glorying in callousness and brutality. We believe that there are better ways of conflict resolutions that are devoid of wanton killings and indiscriminate destruction of valuable property. We are persuaded that Bayelsa State is not a jungle. I, Leader, Excel Yerindideke Toriomo, a son of the soil of The Egwe-Kingdom, an unassuming patriot and a critical stakeholder in the Egwe-Kingdom, with The Revered Regent of The Egwe-Kingdom Chief Timipre Saka Yabi (The Regent Egwe-Kingdom), Chief Stephen Igere Ekenebedi (Chairman Council of Chiefs), Chief Victor TrustGod Ikatawari (Vice Chairman Council of Chiefs), Chief Erehamote O. Dunu Palimote (Secretary Council of Chiefs), Chief I A Authur (PRO Council of Chiefs), Chief D. E. Opuene Onyongbo, Chief G.E. Isaac Igbelegbe and Chief P C Dokubo Ofiri on behalf of the good people of Egwe-Kingdom are resolved to tread the path of legality not minding the gravity of the needless provocations, in the forms of threats, assaults, and intimidations, leveled against us as a people.

However, we have continued to watch with considerable consternation, inconceivable befuddlement, and extreme perplexity the disquieting silence, embarrassing inaction and humiliating indifference that have remained the order of the day after the illegal and obviously provoking barbaric invasions of our community by HRM King Edmund Maduabebe Daukoru of Nembe Kingdom and his unremorseful accomplices. It is an affront taken too far that since our community was illegally invaded by those who believe that they are above the law, no arrest has been made; not even an invitation for questioning by the police and no panel of inquiry has been put in place to investigate the matter. The normal meetings fixed to make peace between the communities have not yielded a desirable result which is evident in the second attack that took place on the very day of a meeting by your government to discuss the issues affecting the two communities.
We have written officially to you, and have written to all the security agencies in the state, yet there has been “a disturbing silence” by all the institutions that are saddled with the responsibilities of bringing the invaders to book. We were threatened to be totally annihilated and brought to an impulsive extinction. Our question has remained; are the state government and the security agencies waiting for our total extermination before actions are taken to curtail the excesses of these marauding invaders who are obviously blinded by greed and incredibly controlled by their self-indulgence to harass, assault, maim, terrorize and kill those they assume to be weak.

Nevertheless, for the records, the Egwe-Kingdom has never been associated with weakness and we have always lived above intimidation. No true son of the Egwe-Kingdom shivers at the sound of war drums; such sounds only activate the war spirits in us. Those who beat unnecessary war drums should be told that victory has never been the exclusive right of the man that starts a fight. Our crying out is nothing but the roar of civilization, a shout of reason and a call for caution. We believe that humanity has gone beyond the needless exercise of physical strength and the use of illegal ammunition to destroy property, end lives and achieve egoistic interests.

His Excellency, within the ambit of the law, we demand definite actions to be taken in the following days, and coming weeks which will make it clear to those who have been parading themselves as men who are above the law, that Bayelsa State is not a jungle but a territory where the rule of law applies; where there is no man or group of men that are in any way above the law.