The Bayelsa State Government has constituted a seven-member committee to look into the issues causing hostility in the Odioma community in Brass Local Government Area of the state with a view to bringing lasting peace to the embattled coastal settlement.

The Deputy Governor, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, who inaugurated the committee during a meeting with the leadership and some stakeholders of Odioma in Government House, Yenagoa, on Tuesday, charged them to be diligent in carrying out their assignment.

A statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Doubara Atasi, said the panel is chaired by the Secretary to the State Government, Gideon Ekeuwei, while the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Biriyai Dambo (SAN), is the secretary.

Specifically, he mandated the panel to separately meet with the two factions led by the Commissioner for Lands and Survey, Andrew Esau, and the chairman of Odioma Council of Chiefs, Munafa Marlin.

Ewhrudjakpo equally directed the attorney general and commissioner for justice to ensure the withdrawal of all cases directly linked to the intra-community conflict in Odioma from the judiciary.

He further urged the Commissioner of Police, Romokere Ibani, who was represented at the meeting by his deputy in charge of administration, DCP Ofem Arikpo, to suspend the interrogation and prosecution of all those arrested recently until further notice.

The deputy governor called on the people to sink their differences and cooperate with the government in the interest of peace and the development of their community.

He advised the Odioma people to resist forthwith the temptation of arresting and counter-arresting themselves, warning that government would not hesitate to deal decisively with any individual or group that jeopardise the current peace effort.

Ewhrudjakpo said, “If you continue to fight, who are we going to talk to and work with to execute the projects you came here to request the other day? We are not going to recognize any faction and that is how development will elude you.

“We don’t want that. And that is why we are encouraging you, people, to complement each other instead of engaging in unhealthy competitions that only cause conflict.

“I’ve already told the Commissioner of Police that nobody should be charged to court based on the current arrests until we finish what we are doing. So, on your part too, there should be no more arrests.

“Anybody who arrests again, the government will be left with no alternative than to declare you as a persona non grata and an enemy of the state.”

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