This was contained in an undertaking/decisions signed by the two ersthwhile factions of Oluasiri clan, five members from both sides, before the Opu Nembe Bassambiri Council of Chiefs during an arbitration meeting.
In the document captioned:
"UNDERTAKING TO KEEP THE PEACE AND ABIDE WITH AND BY ALL RESOLUTIONS/DECISIONS REACHED UNDER THE OPU.NEMBE COUNCIL OF CHIEFS.IN RESPECT OF THE OLUASIRI CRISIS"
reads:
"An arbitration meeting was held on the '19th and 20th of June, 2020 by the Opu Nembe Council of Chiefs in respect of the OLUASIRI crisis.
Oluasiri-Ibe is one of the three (3) clans under the Opu Nembe Kingdom.
THE VARIOUS PARTIES HEREBY UNDERTAKE TO DO THE FOLLOWINGS:
1.To maintan peace, law and order within during and after the arbitration meetings.
2. To abide with and by all decisions and resolutions reached and arrived at by the Opu Nembe Council of Chiefs on the Oluasiri crisis.
3. To restrain ourselves from taking any resort to violence or anything that can cause a breach of the peace.
4.To support either ourselves or our supporters of whatever nature from doing anything that is capable of causing violence or anarchy on the ground of these arbitration meetings
5.If any party breaches these undertakings, each agrieved party shall report... back to the Opu Nembe Council of Chiefs, for necessary action; and nobody shall resort to self help remedy.
It is hereby agreed that the above resolutions, undertakings and agreements are binding on all of us at all times. Dated this 20th Day of June, 2020."
It is hereby agreed that the above resolutions, undertakings and agreements are binding on all of us at all times. Dated this 20th Day of June, 2020."
Signed: by the two parties:
FIRST PARTY:
1. His Royal Highness King I.C.Awululu (Olua 1, The King of Oluasiri-Ibe
2. Chief Kuromi M. Ibiki Elect
3. Olali Cordinah
4. Newton Joshua
5. Gamage David
SECOND PARTY
1. Orusakwe Aseimiegha
2.Elder Kuro Michael
3.Elder Indokubo Daniel
4. Chief Kuro Gamage Obhai
5. Madad Albert Numoyanabofa
CHIEF D.I.ORIANGO-ORUWARI
Chairman, Opu-Nembe Council of Chiefs) and CHIEF W.I. IVORY-FEKORU
(Secretary, Opu-Nembe Council of Chiefs)
Opening their case, the leader of the complainants, Mr Orusakwe Aseimiegha spoke about umbilical cord connecting the Oluasiri clan with Opu Nembe Bassambiri as that of father and son relationship, for which the son must whenever need arises come to the father to find solutions to any problem.
He then started to inform the Chiefs Council that Oluasiri was on the verge of extinction due to what he called leadership failure on the part of the Ibenyanabo of Oluasiri, His Royal Highness King I.C.Awululu.
Mr. Orusakwe accused the King among other things:
1. That King Awululu failed to harmonise the Oluasiri clan communities nor bring development to the people and the land.
2.That he divided Oluasiri by creating his own faction and sidelined majority of the Oluasiri people in the scheme of things especially those not on his side of the divide.
3. That he had in a bid to secede from Opu Nembe and to declare Independence for Oluasiri, sponsored litigations to that effect, and had refused to withdraw the cases, as directed by the Chiefs Council.
4.That the King, unilaterally disbanded Oluasiri Development Union ODU 'the mother union of Oluasiri founded by Opusiri Noah Otobo (late) before he became the Honorable Member at the Bayelsa State House of Assembly. Mr. Orusakwe Aseimiegha posited that the sack of the 'OLUASIRI DEVELOPMENT UNION', ODU and succeeding it with 'OIL AND GAS', was wrong and against the interest of majority in the Oluasiri clan.
5. That the King had abandoned the clan for years which according to Mr. Orusakwe resulted in insecurity and underdevelopment.
6. That Oluasiri being an Oil and Gas rich land where millions of Naira had accrued to the people and the land over the years, the King had not accounted for it, and also that he had not implemented a 60/40% revenue sharing formula approved by the Amanyanabo in Council of the Kingdom of Opu Nembe Bassambiri. which Orusakwe said, the Oluasiri Development Union (O.D.U) would have implemented.
7. Finally, that the King should either resign or be removed by the Opu Nembe Bassambiri Chiefs Council and claimed that; if the King was removed, in a few weeks time he was going to effect election of a new King for the clan.
In his response, the Ibenyanaowei of Oluasiri, His Royal Highness, King Iyerite Chiefson Awululu debunked the allegations as follows:
1. That, he was a Chief in the Opu Nembe Chiefs Council many years before he became the Ibenyanabo of Oluasiri, by the authority of the King and the Council of Chiefs of this Kingdom of Opu Nembe Bassambiri, made a public declaration that he had no secessionist ambition as alleged, and will never allow such to happen during his reign but rather as an ambassador of the King, the Chiefs Council and the People of the Opu Nembe Bassambiri Kingdom he will not relent but continue to serve the interest of the Kingdom..
2. That he had been at Oluasiri as the Ibenyanabo, after building a Palace, he stayed there two or three weeks every month, with the Amadaongu (their Highnesses, the Community Heads), the Chiefs and the entire populace worked together without discrimination. And
by way of clarification, King Awululu avered that Mr. Orusakwe Aseimiegha who made all the allegations against him was amongst beneficiaries of his administrative magnanimity.
3. The Ibenyanaowei said when he assumed duties as King of Oluasiri, his priority attention was to galvanize all the sectors for development, with some reforms, which he also said was being implemented, yielding positive results, but was truncated by the crisis.
4. On the insecurity of Oluasiri Clan, the Olua1 revealed that, his administration was on the move to contact appropriate authorities to effect security presence of the Military and the Police in the area, for which he said, he needed the support of the people of Oluasiri at home and abroad to achieve set goals.
King Awululu who was a former Vice Chairman of Brass Local Government Area and former Council Secretary of Nembe Local Government Council, while speaking on the 60/40% Revenue sharing formula, said he was ready to implement it and urged the Chiefs Council to constitute an implemention Committee as it is in the Construction.
5. On the allegations that he sponsored court cases against the Amanyanabo of Opu Nembe Bassambiri, the Chiefs Council and the Kingdom and refused to withdraw as directed by the Chiefs Council, King Awululu told the arbitration panel of Chiefs that he didn't. sponsor litigatants, but that they came to him for money to close the said case in court, and he refused because, he didn't sponsor them.
The Ibenyanaowei of Oluasiri, HRH, King I.C. Awululu Solomonically tendered many documents as exhibits to coroborate facts about the transparency of his traditional government.
He graphically explained that as the King, he doesn't play the role of the Treasurer and anyone or group seeking to know the income and expenditure of Oluasiri should go to the Treasurer.
After putting questions to the two parties following their evidences, the arbitration panel of Chiefs at the exit of the parties, thought provokingly evaluated the evidences and came out with findings that the King was not guilty of any offense to be dethroned.
Calling back the parties, Chairman of the Council, Chief D.I. Oriango Ekpeleyai-Oruwari
announced the decisions as follows:
" The King has not contravened any law known to Nembe traditions or customs to be removed from the throne. Before a King of Nembe must be dethroned, Chief Ekpeleyai-Oruwari said, he must be guilty of rape, robbery, witchcraft, occultism, murder, corruption etc,, and not the issues before the Council.
He announced that for peace and unity to reign in Oluasiri, two major decisions have been considered.
1. The Oil and Gas Committee constituted by the Ibenyanabo shall stand.
2. The disbanded Oluasiri Development Union (O.D.U) should be reconstituted, and two key officers of that body should be included in the Oil and Gas Committee and to hold the offices of Secretary and Treasurer at all times.
A Committee called: PUBLIC RELATIONS AND meIMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE was constituted to co-ordinate it's affairs with the following members:
1. Chief Fetepigi Itongha - Chairman
2. Chief B.F Amakiri Duo - member
3.Chief Teki Febo member
4. Chief W.S.W Idaulambo - member
5. Chief A. Clinton Ogbu - Secretary.
The Chiefs Council urged the two parties to sink their differences and to withdraw pending cases in earnest, as the way forward for the new beginning.
From investigation, Golden Pen Newspaper reliably gathered that a case was filed:
" IN THE HIGH COURT OF BAYELSA STATE OF NIGERIA IN THE NEMBE JUDICIAL DIVISION HOLDING AT YENAGOA
SUIT NO: NHC/3/2012... BETWEEN
APPLICANTA
1. TUBONA GAMAGE
2. GELEGUKUMA AMAKIRI
3. ALPHEUS MARCUS
4. ELDER OBU LIVINGSTONE
5. DICK SUNDAY DANLADI
6. SEBOBO SAMUEL DAMINGO
7.JOHN LUCKY
(For themselves and on behalf of OLUASIRI Community)
RESPONDENTS
1. CHIEF ROBERT JOHNBULL EFERE
(Chairman Nembe Bassambiri Council of Chiefs)
2. Chief Samuel Ezekiel Ikoli
(Secretary Nembe Bassambiri Council of Chiefs)
3. HRM KING RALPH MICHAEL IWOWARI, MEIN VII
(Amanyanabo of Nembe Bassambiri)
4. THE SHELL PETROLEUM DEVELOPMENT COMPANY NIG. LIMITED
5. THE HON. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF BAYELSA STATE.
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