Buguma City, the seat of power of the Amanyanabo of Kalabari Kingdom was thrown into mourning, following the recent killings that occurred on the 7th and 9th of March, 2016 respectively.
Earlier, the Kalabari monarch, His Majesty, King Professor Theophilus J. T Princewill, Amachree XI conferred with Chiefs, Security agents, frontline political party leaders in the Local Government Area, Executives of Buguma City Community Development Committee (BIAS) to find lasting solutions to the unholy behaviours of the youths in the community with the presence of unannounced security personnel, who stormed the community and arrested innocent indigenes.
According to the Amanyanabo, the pervading atmosphere of peace that accompanied the festive period from December last year to early January 2016, unwantonly punctured in the early hours of January 6, 2016 by the sudden presence of an unidentifiable security agents who surreptitiously sneaked into the ancient city of Buguma, headquarters of Asari-Toru Local Government Area, which invariably is the seat of King Princewill.
Following the incident, the Amanyanabo mandated the Buguma Internal Affairs Society, (BIAS) headed by Chief Dr. Charles Numbere and his executives to handle the hydra-headed issue and report back to the palace with their findings.
The committed BIAS Exco immediately swung into action and came up with a communiqué. In an 11-point resolution, BIAS pledged to support all peace processes to bring back Buguma City and indeed ASALGA to its original peaceful state enjoyed by the people in the past.
After submitting the communiqué to the Amanyanabo at his palace in Buguma, the monarch commended their efforts and zeal in assisting the community to finally nip the crisis in the bud, adding that their unifying approach shows total commitment and love for their father-land and urged them to keep up the tempo.
In a chat with the National President of Buguma Internal Affairs Society (BIAS), Chief D. Charles Numbere, said the crisis in Buguma City and its environs is worse off and frightening, pointing out that generation of young men have died and many abominable things are happening in the area.
He decried the complex state of killings in Buguma, noting that he is confused whether it is a cult-related crisis or politically orchestrated one. He stressed that it is difficult to watch the dastardly act, which prompted BIAS, security agents and good spirited individuals to jointly come together and condemn such acts.
“The image of the major parties suffer because of cult activities. I am sure the parties will never encourage their members to exhibit, if they know of them.
Oh! Buguma, we have sinned against God, we need deliverance. Buguma has lost a generation of youths due to cultism, which has now infiltrated the political parties and is continuing to do terrible things to shame the political parties,” Chief Numbere stressed.
BIAS National President advised politicians to be weary of cultists in order not to give them bad image, saying that party chieftains should as a matter of urgency maintain the peace at all times and disallow cultists from infiltrating them.
On the absence of the leaders of the two frontline political parties at the monarch’s palace, Numbere reasoned that it is a sad coincidence because they were unavoidably absent due to some engagements, saying that he assumes when they return they will endorse the communiqué which was signed by the Chiefs, BIAS exco and security agencies in the Amanyanabo’s palace in Buguma.
Meanwhile, the terms of reference of the committee, include, to find out the root cause of the incident; to find lasting solutions to the cause of the problem with a view to avoiding a reoccurrence, and the committee to report its findings to the Amanyanabo-in-Council within two months.
It would be recalled that the committee which met several times found and resolved that the root cause of the problem is the illegal lone-wolf plan of over enthusiastic politicians, inviting security agents to raid Buguma City in the guise of mopping up illegal arms. Others are, that the executives of both political parties and their members resident in Buguma City at the time were completely ignorant of the vexed dastardly arrangement.
Above all, the committee is of the opinion that there illegal arms and ammunition in Buguma City that need to be cleared, but the procedure for the mop up must follow due process and seen to be fair. In a related development, the committee which was setup on January 12, 2016 resolve further that the representatives of both APC and PDP render an unreserved apology to the Amanyanabo of Kalabari Kingdom for breaching the peace in Bugurna City on January 6, 20l6. And that the two parties pledge that such breach of the peace shall never occur again.
It was also stated by the committee in its resolutions that in times of apparent provocation, parties would follow the discussed hierarchical approach to reporting to the monarch whose doors are wide open at all times.
The committee maintained that, “…BIAS shall hold peace-talks and symposia on Buguma/Kalabari affairs with stakeholders discussing on topical issues that concerns them.
Such, they believe would go a long way to douse tension in the land, and eventually nip problems in the bud. “Those political parties and their supporters should desist from the habit of destroying campaign materials of each other.”
The Committee equally resolved that the Buguma CDC (BIAS) shall be the watch dog to ensure that both parties abide by the terms of the communiqué and would treat any defaulter as a persona-nongrata or subject to cogent intelligence and with the knowledge of the King and the Chief Security. Officer of the Local Government Area in order to mop up illegal fire arms in Buguma City and environs, among others.###
