Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State, has called on the Rivers State government to show understanding in order to amicably resolve the dispute between Oluasiri Clan in Bayelsa and their Kalabari neighbours in Rivers.
The Oluasiri communities in Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa and their Kalabari Ijaw kinsmen are locked in dispute arising from the location of oil wells within the boundary area.
Speaking in government house, Yenagoa during a meeting with stakeholders from the Oluasiri clan led by the paramount ruler, Chief Iyerite Chiefson Awululu, Diri equally sought the support of Ijaw leaders and elders to resolve the age-long feud between the two Ijaw communities.
The governor assured that the state government would protect its territories and work with the communities to ensure that they are secured. His words: “I’m calling on my brother governor of our sister state that this is a time that we need to look at the realities. As a people from the old Rivers State, we need to sit together and resolve our internal disputes, which should be easy to do because both feuding communities are of the Ijaw extraction. We have no difference between the Nembes and Kalabaris. They are all Ijaws and so no other person should beat the drums of war.”
