Monarch Clears Nembe E&P of Blame in Bayelsa Clash

In a statement, His Royal Highness Ingo Ikele Ikaba, the Amanyanabo of Dieama-Okpoama, absolved Nembe Exploration & Production Company Limited of any responsibility for the communal clash at the Ikei/Dieama axis of Brass Island, Bayelsa State, which resulted in the death of Alfred Ojoko. The oil company has formally rejected the Bayelsa state government's implication in the incident and demanded an immediate retraction.

Ikaba described Ojoko, who was his brother and personal assistant, and clarified that the land acquisition process by Nembe, which began early last year, was unrelated to the violence that occurred on October 19. He emphasized that both Dieama and Ikei communities had cooperated in the land acquisition process without major incidents.

Ikaba pointed to longstanding community tensions over black sand mining and land-boundary disputes as the actual causes of the violence, urging the public to avoid spreading unsubstantiated narratives that could misrepresent the facts.