Eleme Community Leaders Cry Out Over Incessant Police Harassments

The paramount ruler of Ejammah-Ebubu Community in Eleme local government Area of Rivers state, HRH, Peter Nyimeochen Oguru has cried out over incessant police harassment, threats of arrest, arrests and intimidationhe has been subjected to since June 2022. Also facing the same ordeals in the hands of the Police are members of a 13-man disbursement committee set up by the community during an open town hall meeting to handle the disbursement of oil-spill compensation fund paid to the community by Shell Petroleum Development Company as ordered by the Supreme Court in a landmark judgment delivered in 2021..
This publication was told that the royal father was humiliated before his community women on Friday, December 2 at his palace by policemen who wanted to forcefully arrest him. He was pushed down and while on the ground, the Police started dragging him towards their waiting vehicle until women and youths intervened and stopped them from taking him away. Some injuries were inflicted on him.
Narrating the ordeals of the royal father and other members of the community, his counsel, Ayodele Salami Esq told this publication that On Friday, December 2, 2022, a team of about 7 well armed police officers in mufti stormed the compound of HRH, Peter Nyimeochen Oguru in Ejamma-Ebubu at about 6 pm while the burial ceremony of his father was ongoing. They came in an unmarked Sienna vehicle.
One of the police officers was introduced as Inspector Emma. It was gathered that as soon as they arrived the palace of the royal father, they went straight to him, grabbed him and tried to drag him to their waiting vehicle outside the compound. While he was struggling with them, he cried out for help and that attracted the attention and intervention of some women who were in the kitchen and at the back of the house. Initially, the women pleaded with the police officers not to arrest the Royal father as it could disrupt the ongoing burial ceremony. However, when it became obvious to the women that the invading police officers were hell bent on forcefully arresting the Chief, they held him tightly on his waist so that they would not be able to take him away. The furious police officers were hitting the women, trying to overpower them. In the tug of war that ensued, the Royal father was pushed down by the police, and while on the ground, they were still dragging him towards their car. With much shouting, many people, including youths, were attracted to the scene. The crowd made the police officers to run away, leaving the paramount ruler on the ground. He sustained some injuries.
The lawyer lamented that the treatment given to the royal father was a needless humiliation of not only the traditional ruler, but also the traditional institution of Ejamah-Ebubu people.
The incessant police harassment started sometime in June 2022 and was masterminded by some dissident youths that called themselves Ejamah Youth Stakeholders. They were said to have resorted to the use of the police to intimidate the Disbursement Committee after their several moves to hijack the committee or the community funds failed.
The Police, via the office of the Forces Headquarters, SCID Abuja, since June 2022, have arrested members of the Disbursment/Development Committee at least threeor more different times, this publication was told.
BetweenJuly 10and 17, Chief Augustine Alalewa Yanwi, one of the members of the Ejamah 13, and chairman of the committee, as well as other members of the committee, were invited several times by the Eleme Division of the Rivers State Police Command which said it was acting on a petition of poor execution of community projects as alleged by the self-styled Ejamah Youth Stakeholders.
Chief Olonwi disclosed that since 2021 when the task of managing the compensation money for the community was assigned to the committee, the youths started their desperate moves to force themselves into the committee. According to Chief Ollornwi, in June, 2022, nine of the members were arrested and bundled to Abuja where they were held for about four days. They spent over N7million to secure their release..
On Sept 28, two of the members were arrested and taken to Abuja where they were detained. They spent about N2million to secure their release.
On Nov 11, 2022, Ngobe was arrested from court premisesin Rivers State and was taken to Abuja where he was detained for about five days.
One of the committee members lamented that the arrests and harassments have little or nothing to do with investigation of alleged misappropriation of funds as claimed by the police, but were more of strategies to extort money from the community and to intimidate the committee to succumb to the sinister demands of the disgruntled youths, including their demand to be made part of the committee.
He disclosed that relevant documents, including bank transactions with BVN number of the account containing the community money, as well as individual accounts of the committee members have been handed over to the police for investigation at different times but nothing incriminating has been found. He said they observed that after each arrest, the youths would insist that the policemen who carried out the arrest should be settled.
Another victim of the police harassment, Chief Ollornwi disclosed that the spate of arrests started when all the requests of the youths to be given access to the community funds were turned down.
“Firstly, they approached the committee, saying that they wanted to become members of the disbursement committee. When that failed, they requested to be made security guards, overseeing the projects being executed with the funds. When that requested was turned down like others, they wanted to be made contractorsto handle the projects and finally, they demanded to be given a contract to provide street lights”, Chief Ollornwi disclosed.
Determined to have their ways despite all odds, they resorted to the use of policemen to haunt and torment the committee members.
Worried about the incessant police harassments, the committee chairman, Chief Augustus Alalina Yanwi said to be over 80 years old, headed to the Federal High Court on July 25, to enforce his fundamental human rights.
In the suit, No. FHC/PH/FHR/253/2022, he prayed the court to make a declaration that he and other members of the committee have right to freedom of movement and right to personal dignity without any molestation, harassment, intimidation and threat of arrests by the police. He also prayed the court to declare the persistent police harassment and arrests as unlawful, unconstitutional and a breach of their fundamental human rights. The court was asked to proclaim an order of perpetual injunction restraining the police from harassing and arresting them.
On August 31, judgment was made by Hon. Justice Phoebe M. Ayua in the suit, Chief Augustine Yanwi V IGP and 6 Others (Suit No. FHC/PH/FHR/253/2022).
The judgment declared as unconstitutional, the harassment by the Police of all the members of the Committee.
Despite the court judgment and a pending suit at the Nchia High Court, the Police are still harassing the disbursement committee members and violating their human rights.
“The Police are meant to honour and respect subsisting judgment and pending proceedings. They do not have any right to keep on arresting persons since June 2022 without charging them to court”. Said a human rights defender under anonymity.
Chief Hope Ollornwi stated that the police harassments have caused distractions on the implementation of selected community projects they were implementing.
However, it was gathered that so far, the sum of N5m has been given to about 4000 community members, both old and young. About 8.5kilometers of roads have also been constructed in the community by the committee using the community fund before the police and the youth stakeholders went to a court in Nasarawa State to obtain an order blocking the account of the community.
The money in question was paid to the community by Shell in 2021 in execution of a court judgment which ordered the multinational oil company to pay a compensation to the community following a devastating oil spillage from the company’s facility which destroyed the community’s ecosystem sometime in 1980.The initial the judgment sum was N0bn.
Not satisfied, a legal battle started in 1983. An environmental lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, now late, Chief Lucious Nwosu, represented the community in the matter. As the matter was progressing, Shell opted for an out of court settlement. The proposal by Shell later turned out to be a deceit as they terminated the out-of-court settlement process. In 1991, the community returned to court and in 2020, judgment was delivered in favour of the community ordering Shell to pay compensation to the community.
When Shell refused to pay the compensation and the state government threatened to buy off Shell’s oil mining license, the company agreed to pay in order not to lose its operating license. By then, the money in contention had increased to about N200billion as a result of compound interests. Both parties settled for N45bn, which was released in August 2021and in December, 2021, disbursement to community members, which was handled by the disbursement community commenced.
When contacted, the police Public relation officer of the Rivers State Police command, Grace Iringe Koko declined comment. She did not respond to message sent to her phone number.