Two chieftancy Homes in Finima, Bonny Kingdom of Rivers State, the Brown and the Tobin Chieftancy Houses are currently locked in violent war of supremacy over hosting of Eremini and Fongu mini traditional festival in the community. For whatever reason, the Brown Chieftancy House led by one Engineer Lambert Dagogo was said to have sworn that over his dead body would the Tobin Chieftancy House led by Elder Darlington Adango Tobin be allowed to perform the annual mini traditional festival. The festival was said to have started in August 1st and proceeds to September 9th 2026. Both the Brown Chieftancy House and the Tobin Chieftancy House were to perform on August 28, 2026 and August 22, 2026 respectively.
However, while preparations were on top gear for the Tobin Chieftancy House to perform, rumours of threat to attack from the Brown Chieftancy House filled the air, prompting the Tobin Chieftancy House to report to the Local Government Chairman, Hon Blessing Abiye Pepple who invited both wary parties and begged them to toe the line of peace; insisting however, that he has no power to either ask the Tobin Chieftancy House to perform in the forthcoming festival or not. He was not forthright at the peace meeting at all. To worsen the matter, the Divisional Police Officer of Finima Division, CSP Mukhtar Mahdi was said to have openly took side with the Brown Chieftancy House, warning members of the Tobin Chieftancy House that he could not guarantee their safety during the festival as he was not going to provide security for them.
In search of lasting peace, the Tobin Chieftancy House again, petitioned the Bonny Chiefs Council, the highest authority and custodian of native laws and customs. Again, the two Chieftancy Houses were summoned and admonished to maintain peace with a press release dated August 17, 2026 that the Tobin Chieftancy House is one of the recognised thirty four Chieftancy Houses in Bonny Kingdom and therefore, should not be hindered in anyway particular, to perform in the festival. It was gathered that with the press release from the Bonny Council of Chiefs, the matter was supposed to have been laid to rest only for the Tobin Chieftancy House to receive an invite from the Inspect-General of Police Monitoring Unit Abuja at the behest of the Brown Chieftancy House on the same matter.
As lover of peace, members of the Tobin Chieftancy House was said to have honoured the invite during which both parties were also admonished to live in peace and perform the festival on the dates alloted to each Chieftancy House. Parties were also made to do undertaking in writing to that effect.
However, inspite of the written undertaking at the Force Headquarters Abuja to maintain peace during the festival, members of the Brown Chieftancy House were alleged to have invaded the Tobin Chieftancy House in the wee hours of August 22, 2026, a day set aside for them to perform in the festival with dangerous weapons including cudgel, cutlasses, guns and all imaginable weapons, inflicted seveer bodily injuries on members of the Tobin Chieftancy House, smashed cars parked and ensured that they didn’t actually performe in the ongoing festival. As if to add salt to injury, the State Police Command was said to have dispatched personnel from the State Criminal Investigation Department while the fight was on and got the chairman of the Tobin Chieftancy House, Elder Darlington Adango Tobin arrested and detained till date, even with injuries on his body. Police show of compromise was also clear as they did not touch a member of the Brown Chieftancy House who lauched the attack and destroyed properties runnung into several millions of naira.
Pigued by this untoward injustice, Counsel to the Tobin Chieftancy House, Barrister Yinka Sanni has written a strong worded petition to the Inspect-General of Police IGP Olatunji Rilwan Disu, asking him to wade into the matter and cause the transfer of the case file from the Rivers State Police Command to the Force Headquarters Abuja, saying that they have openly showed compromise and therefore, nothing near justice would come out of the investigation. According to him, “How can a Divisional Police Officer of a community openly say during a peace meeting that he would not provide security for a particular ruling House who is billed to exercise their traditional rites on an appointed date? The DPO was even alleged to have told a detachment of MOPOL 16 who were brought to provide security while the festival holds to leave the community that their safety could not be guaranteed. You can imagine.
“Now, what do you say of a whole Police Command arresting a member of a ruling House in a fight initiated by an attacking House and allowed the attackers to be moving around freely while a member of the victim- House was arrested and detained? Meanwhile, the Command is not unaware that members of Brown Chieftancy House were the ones who invaded and launched an attack on the Tobin Chieftancy House as early as 3.00am of August 22, 2026, that same morning that the festival was to take place true to their threat; the attack brought to an abrupt end plance to perform in the festival as threatened by the Brown Chieftancy House. I have petitioned the IGP who I know to be an upright man, and I am sure he will call for the case file because there is no way my client could get justice from the Rivers State Police Command that has opening shown compromise. As I speak, the detained suspect, an elder statesman is with severe injuries in the custodyof the police denied bail.”