Two chieftaincy houses in Finima, Bonny Kingdom of Rivers State, have become embroiled in a dispute over the hosting of the Eremini and Fongu Mini Traditional Festival, with allegations of violence, police bias and the arrest of a chieftaincy leader.
The dispute is between the Brown Chieftaincy House, led by Engineer Lambert Dagogo, and the Tobin Chieftaincy House, led by Elder Darlington Adango Tobin.
The annual festival, which began on August 1 and is expected to run until September 9, 2026, reportedly allocated August 22 and August 28 for the Tobin and Brown Chieftaincy Houses, respectively, to perform their traditional rites.
However, tensions reportedly escalated ahead of the Tobin Chieftaincy House’s scheduled performance on August 22, following alleged threats of an attack by members of the Brown Chieftaincy House.
The Tobin Chieftaincy House subsequently reported the matter to the Bonny Local Government Council Chairman, Hon. Abinye Pepple, who reportedly summoned representatives of both parties and urged them to maintain peace.
According to the Tobin Chieftaincy House, the council chairman maintained that he had no authority to determine whether the house should perform its traditional rites or not.
The matter was later taken before the Bonny Chiefs Council, the traditional authority responsible for the custody of the kingdom’s native laws and customs.
Following a meeting with both parties, the Bonny Chiefs Council issued a statement dated August 17, 2026, recognising the Tobin Chieftaincy House as one of the 34 recognised chieftaincy houses in Bonny Kingdom and stating that it should not be prevented from participating in the festival.
The dispute also reportedly reached the Inspector-General of Police Monitoring Unit at the Force Headquarters in Abuja following a petition allegedly initiated by the Brown Chieftaincy House.
Members of the Tobin Chieftaincy House said they honoured the invitation, after which both parties were reportedly urged to maintain peace and proceed with the festival according to their allotted dates.
The parties were also said to have signed written undertakings to maintain peace.
Despite the undertakings, the Tobin Chieftaincy House alleged that members of the Brown Chieftaincy House invaded its premises around 3 am on August 22, the day scheduled for the Tobin House to perform its traditional rites.
The house alleged that the attackers were armed with weapons, including cudgels, cutlasses and guns, and inflicted injuries on some of its members while also damaging vehicles and other properties.
According to the allegations, the attack prevented the Tobin Chieftaincy House from carrying out its scheduled traditional rites.
The Tobin Chieftaincy House further accused the Rivers State Police Command of bias in its handling of the incident, alleging that police officers from the State Criminal Investigation Department arrived during the clash and arrested its chairman, Elder Darlington Adango Tobin.
The house claimed that Tobin remained in police custody despite sustaining injuries, while no member of the Brown Chieftaincy House allegedly faced similar arrest over the incident.
The Divisional Police Officer of Finima Division, CSP Mukhtar Mahdi, was also accused by the Tobin Chieftaincy House of openly taking sides in the dispute.
According to the house, Mahdi allegedly stated during an earlier peace meeting that he could not guarantee the safety of members of the Tobin Chieftaincy House and would not provide security for them during their scheduled festival.
The house further alleged that the DPO directed a detachment of Mobile Police personnel brought in to provide security during the festival to leave the community, claiming that their safety could not be guaranteed.
Reacting to the development, counsel to the Tobin Chieftaincy House, Barrister Yinka Sanni, petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Rilwan Disu, urging him to intervene in the matter.
Sanni also requested that the case file be transferred from the Rivers State Police Command to the Force Headquarters in Abuja, arguing that the state command had allegedly compromised the investigation.
“How can a Divisional Police Officer of a community openly say during a peace meeting that he would not provide security for a particular ruling House who is billed to exercise their traditional rites on an appointed date?” Sanni queried.
He also alleged that the police response to the August 22 incident was unfair, arguing that his client, whom he described as an elder statesman, was arrested and detained despite allegedly sustaining injuries during the incident.
Sanni said the police were aware of the alleged 3 am invasion of the Tobin Chieftaincy House but had failed to take similar action against those allegedly responsible for the attack.
“I have petitioned the IGP, who I know to be an upright man, and I am sure he will call for the case file because there is no way my client could get justice from the Rivers State Police Command that has openly shown compromise,” he said.
The lawyer added that Tobin remained in police custody and was being denied bail despite his alleged injuries.
The allegations against the Brown Chieftaincy House and the Rivers State Police Command could not be independently verified from the information provided. The accused parties and the police command have not been quoted responding to the allegations in the material supplied.
