Sequel to the spate of shootings, killings, kidnappings and maiming that have taken place in Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State in recent times, a strong call has been made to the authorities to engage the ‘Okoloma Ikpangi’ Forum as a way of assisting the security architecture in the area.

The latest of such incidents transpired at Finiapiri-Ama (Amauda) in Banigo Isile-Ogono Community last Saturday.

It is against this backdrop that the Vicar-in-Charge of St. Michael’s Christ Army Church (CAC), Abonnema, Reverend Canon Nengi Brown, is calling on the authorities in Bonny LGA to engage Okoloma Ikpangi in response to the steady deterioration of the security situation in the LGA.

Okoloma Ikpangi Forum is said to be a pressure group focused on advancing the socio-political, socio-economic and socio-cultural interest of Bonny Kingdom etched on the threshold of the ideals of equity, justice and truth.

Though during the militancy period in the Niger Delta region, the group resorted to armed struggle that pitted it against the Nigerian State, it is believed to have recently adopted a non-violent posture and advocacy in driving its agenda.

Reports have it that, in furtherance of its avowal to support the Federal Government in restoring peace to the troubled Niger Delta region, the forum, alongside other groups, subscribed to the Presidential Amnesty Programme under the then President Umaru Yar’Adua administration.

The revered cleric said it was long overdue for the authorities at the Bonny Local Government to source for homegrown solutions towards arresting the security imbroglio in the area.

He said “Ask the (LG) Chairman to call the Okoloama Ikpangi to assist him. Also remember when we have groups like CASA and others, outsiders were afraid to come.”

This call is coming on the heels of an attack on a funeral at Finiapiri-Ama in Banigo Isile-Ogono on Saturday, September 12, 2020, where four titled citizens of Bonny Kingdom were abducted in broad daylight.

Four persons: Thompson Allison, Daniel Hart, Sunny Hart, and Theophilus Ibiama were kidnapped while several people, one of whom was the Leader of the Bonny Legislative Assembly, Miriam Hart, sustained injuries from gunshots by the daredevil hoodlums who disrupted the funeral of one of Bonny LGA’s celebrated entrepreneur, politician and philanthropist, Kenneth Banigo. 

Rev. Canon Brown, who is also the Dean, School of Community Health, Rivers State College of Health Science and Technology (RIVCOHSTECH), aligned with the call by the member representing Bonny Constituency in the Rivers State House of Assembly, Abinye Pepple to convoke a security summit with a view to finding a sustainable solution to the problem of insecurity in Bonny LGA.  

“We have suffered a lot as a people and there’s need for us to meet, these issues of security should be our personal guide!”

The renowned academic veteran predicated his position on the spate of attacks on various communities in the LGA by criminal elements reportedly from nearby communities, lamenting that consequent upon this residents of Bonny LGA have for long been subjected to rising insecurity due to the activities of these hoodlums.

The cleric, who is an accredited expert in Security and Safety Management with several years of consulting experience, asked the local government authorities to borrow a leaf from Akuku-Toru and Asari-Toru LGAs where they maintain a homogenous security arrangement that incorporates a synergy between the locals and the security agencies, which according to him has continued yielding positive results.

“In Abonnema and Buguma they still maintain CSO of the LGA, who’s versatile and educated in handling security issues with the JTF.”

“Formerly, we had such arrangement but it was abused. If we can realign or redesign it to be able to organize it according to an acceptable model, I will prefer.”

He regretted that those who are privy to information critical to handling security in the LGA were either having challenges with access to the LGA Chairman or are afraid of volunteering such information to other stakeholders.

“Majority of persons who will love to give information when they have privilege are afraid or can’t reach the LGA Chairman. My opinion.”