Police confirm murder of Bayelsa monarch, begin probe

There is tension in Kalaba community in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State following the murder of the Paramount ruler, Chief Francis Kolubo, and the Community Development Committee (CDC) Chairman, Samuel Oburo, by yet-to-be-identified gunmen.

It was gathered that the monarch was kidnapped from his palace on Sunday and whisked away to an unknown destination.

Howeverm on Thursday morning, his subjects woke up to discover his body at the community swamp with several machete cuts, suggesting that he had been tortured.

Meanwhile, the CDC chaiman, Oburo, is said to have been dragged out of his room to the backyard by gunmen where he was brutally murdered.

It was learnt that the community has been in a lingering tussle linked to plans by some suspected crude oil thieves to set up a bunkering camp bordering Kalaba and Ikarama communities.

Investigations showed that friction later shifted to dispute over the control of surveillance contracts of a pipeline owned by Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) which was withdrawn from those handling it before and given to the deceased Kolubo and Oboro.

Sources said residents had preddicted the danger ahead of the paramount ruler and the CDC chairman but the duo had insisted that they cannot be harmed.

Confirming the incident, the state Police spokesperson, Asinim Butswat, said investigations were ongoing to apprehend the perpatrtaors of the act.