Finima: Double Assassination Attempts Averted, One Arrested as LG Chairman Calls on Fleeing Residents to Return
But for the intervention of the Community Security Team, a double assassination attempt would have succeeded in Finima Community, potentially throwing the beleaguered community into further crisis.
A top security source told Kristina Reports that the Finima Security Team mobilised to the private residence of the Amadabo, Aseme Alabo Dagogo Lambert Brown, after gunshots were heard there at about 3 a.m. on Saturday morning, only to be ambushed by yet-to-be-identified assailants.
Reports of more gunshots at the residence of the Head, Iyariari Chieftaincy House, Aseme Wari-Alabo Tuwonimi Iyariari, and later in other parts of the town, prompted the team to mobilise to ascertain what was happening.
Unfortunately, the team was ambushed and attacked, with one of its members having his hand severed while attempting to protect the team leader. He was also reportedly shot in the knee.
The remaining members of the team who escaped mobilised reinforcements, leading to an exchange of gunfire and the injury of one of the attackers, who sustained a machete wound to the neck and was later rushed to an undisclosed medical facility by security operatives.
Sources close to the Amadabo and within the security sector told Kristina Reports that both attacks were aimed at assassinating the two traditional rulers. The Amadabo was reportedly out of town at the time, while Alabo Iyariari Brown escaped unhurt.
Also, a top source in one of the security agencies who preferred anonymity, disclosed to Kristina Reports that precisely eight bullet casings were recovered at the Amadabo’s residence, while another set of bullet casings were recovered at the residence of the Iyariari family Chief.
He added that preliminary analysis of the recovered bullet casings indicates that a locally made gun might have been used at the Iyariari residence while an assault rifle was probably used at the Amadabo’s residence.
The Public Relations Officer of the Rivers State Police Command, Blessing Agabe, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), confirmed the incident on Monday, August 24, 2026, saying that normalcy had been restored to the community.
She disclosed that one suspected member of the gang had been arrested, while investigators were working to apprehend other suspects still at large.
“Investigation is ongoing into the matter, while one of the gang members has been arrested,” she said.
According to her, the arrested suspect was providing useful information that could assist the police in unravelling the circumstances surrounding the attack and identifying other members of the gang.
The violence reportedly followed disagreements over cultural identity, traditional rites, masquerade displays and the rights of families to perform certain traditional activities.
No death was recorded in the incident, but several residents reportedly sustained injuries before police operatives were deployed to restore order.
Chairman of Bonny LGA, Abinye Pepple, who had on Saturday declared a cessation of all cultural activities in Finima, has called on residents of the community who fled the outbreak of violence that fateful morning to return home.
He urged them to remain calm and law-abiding, while assuring them that security personnel had been deployed to protect lives and property. He also asserted that anyone found culpable would face justice, regardless of status or position.
Recalling attacks on members of Tobin House in 2025 during the same event, residents panicked, with many staying indoors or leaving the community for fear of being attacked.
Finima Community is part of Bonny Island, which hosts critical national economic assets, including the Nigeria LNG (NLNG) gas liquefaction plant, the Train 7 project site and Residential Area, Renaissance Africa Energy Company’s Bonny Oil and Gas Terminal (BOGT), and Seplat Energy Plc’s Bonny River Terminal (BRT), among others.
