Just In: Rivers in Panic as Gunmen Strike During Cultural Festival, Monarch Escapes
- Gunmen opened fire at a cultural masquerade display and stormed the palace of the Amadabo of Finima Community in Bonny LGA
- Several residents sustained gunshot wounds and machete cuts during the Saturday attack, which police linked to a dispute over traditional rites
- Rivers State Police confirmed one suspect has been arrested and is cooperating with investigators, while others remain at large
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The Rivers State Police Command has opened an investigation after gunmen attacked the traditional ruler of Finima Community in Bonny Local Government Area on Saturday, leaving several residents wounded and property destroyed.
HRH Dagogo Brown, the Amadabo of Finima Community, survived after armed men stormed a cultural masquerade event and fired indiscriminately in the direction of his palace. No deaths were recorded, but multiple residents suffered gunshot wounds and machete cuts before a police detachment restored calm to the area.
Source: Original
Police spokesperson ASP Blessing Agabe confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria in Port Harcourt on Monday. She said one suspect had already been arrested and was cooperating with investigators, while efforts were continuing to track down other members of the group believed to be involved in the attack.
"The command has commenced an investigation into the incident," Agabe said, adding that the goal was to identify and arrest all those responsible.
What triggered the Bonny attack
According to The Punch, the violence is believed to have grown out of long-running tensions over cultural identity, specifically disagreements about which families hold the right to conduct certain masquerade displays and traditional ceremonies. Those disputes escalated in the early hours of Saturday into a full-scale armed assault on the palace.
Bonny LGA chairman calls for calm
The Chairman of Bonny Local Government Council, Mr Abinye Pepple, condemned the attack and urged residents who had fled the community out of fear to return home. He called for an impartial investigation and appealed for calm, asking community members to remain law-abiding while security operatives maintained a presence in the area.
Pepple also assured residents that security personnel had been deployed specifically to protect lives and property and prevent any further outbreak of violence.
Finima Community sits on Bonny Island, which hosts several of Nigeria's most critical energy installations, including the Nigeria LNG gas liquefaction plant covering Trains 1 to 7, and Renaissance Africa Energy's Bonny crude oil export terminal.
Former security shot dead in Rivers
Legit.ng earlier reported that Rivers is under tension as unidentified gunmen shot dead Letam Kine, former Chief Security Officer of Khana LGA, along Polytechnic Road, Bori, on Sunday, July 26.
Rivers State Police Command spokesperson Blessing Agabe confirmed the incident and said the attackers fled before operatives arrived at the scene.
Khana LGA Chairman Thomas Bariere condemned the killing and raised concern it occurred weeks after another murder in the area.
Source: Legit.ng
