The Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Dr Ipalibo Banigo, has visited Degema Local Government over worsening security issues bedevilling the area.
The visit follows continuous attacks on travellers along Bille-Port Harcourt waterways by pirates which have left tens of persons dead in the past months.
During the visit on Tuesday, the Deputy Governor held a closed-door meeting with the chairman of the council, Tony Philmoore where matters concerning security, empowerment and the general wellbeing of Delgans were discussed.
Also discussed during the meeting, theportcitynews gathered, was the peaceful resolution of a brewing conflict between the India John Yellowe Family, Marion Braide Family, Charlie Will Braide Family and others from Bakana and Bukuma Community over the ownership of Abalakiri, Omungukiri, Shellkiri and Ekwemeyekiri.
During the discussion, all parties involved in the dispute committed to maintaining peace and to recognise the official position as a credible platform for alternative dispute resolution.
Meanwhile, Degema Local Government Chairman, Tony Philmore, over the weekend met separately with chiefs, elders and other stakeholders of Bille, Tombia and Bakana communities to fashion out cost-effective strategies that would yield results in the shortest possible time.
During the meeting with the Chairman of Bille Kingdom Chief’s Council, Alabo (Barr) Bennett Okpoki-ye Dokubo, the chairman mooted the idea of having a special squad patrolling the waterways to make it safer for travellers adding that he was scheduled to meet with security agents on Monday 15-Jul-2019 to fine-tune strategies and proposals for men, materials and equipment to be mobilized for that purpose.
In their submission, stakeholders of Tombia Community led by former Degema Local Government Area Chairman, Hon. Abiye Davies said that in tackling insecurity, councils need to consider its psychological and material components to have the desired results.
He added that unless motives and motivations were considered while entrenching the principles of equity and justice in the administration of communities, the challenge of insecurity would linger.
Also over the weekend, Philmore met with all divides of chiefs in Bakana and with their consent, dissolved all existing Community Development Committees, CDCs, and charged them to nominate candidates within one week to constitute a new and more vibrant CDC that would be the fulcrum of development and peace for the community.
The chairman advised the chiefs to seek a common cohesive ground to relate while putting the interest of Bakana above their personal and sectional interests in order to engender harmony while building a robust and formidable front to attract development and grow the economy for the benefit of all.
The council boss enjoined them to support security agents in the community and promised to find a lasting solution to the electricity challenges faced by Bakana and Ogurama by providing power through an independent power project which he said was likely to be completed before 2020.
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