The Chairman of the Governing Board of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP), Emmanuel Deeyah, has urged security agencies and local authorities to go beyond responding to attacks in Ogoniland, Rivers State and identify those financing and directing the violence, owing to the repeated killings that threaten both public safety and the area’s wider recovery efforts.
Deeyah spoke during a visit to the Chairman of Khana Local Government Area, Dr Thomas Bari’ere, at the council secretariat in Bori, days after gunmen killed the council’s former Chief Security Officer, Letam Kiine.
Kiine was ambushed along the road leading to Ken Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic and shot dead, in addition to a series of violent incidents that have unsettled residents in parts of Khana.
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While condoling with the local government over the killing, Deeyah said those behind the attacks should no longer be treated simply as isolated criminals but as individuals whose activities continue to disrupt peace in the traditional headquarters of Ogoniland.
According to him, lasting peace will depend on exposing not only those carrying out the attacks but also those sponsoring them.
While addressing the council chairman, councillors and council staff, Deeyah said: “We will support you. Stand your ground and do not be afraid of anybody. We will surely chase those causing insecurity away.”
He also urged the council leadership to ensure that those linked to the violence were arrested and prosecuted.
Deeyah recalled that some communities in Khana were once difficult for residents to access because of persistent attacks. He credited the local government chairman with restoring relative calm in areas such as Gwara and urged him not to relent despite the latest setback.
He said, “When I arrived, I heard that someone had been killed, and I felt it was one death too many.”
He warned those involved in violent crimes to abandon such activities, and that the law would eventually catch up with them.
Responding, Bari’ere assured residents that the council had intensified efforts to identify those responsible for the recent killing.
He disclosed that the local government activated its security structure immediately after receiving news of Kiine’s death and was working with security agencies to track those behind the attack.
Bari’ere said, “We are closing in on those behind these criminal acts. In the coming days, they will not only be exposed but will also be prosecuted.”
The council chairman also made a fresh allegation that some individuals fuelling insecurity were simultaneously seeking appointments as chief security officers within the local government.
He said, “You cannot be a source of insecurity and at the same time seek to be among those responsible for providing security.”
Bari’ere stood on the fact that the council would commit its resources to supporting security operations until those responsible were brought to justice.
The concern over insecurity has again resurfaced at a sensitive period for Ogoniland, where authorities have continued environmental remediation and development programmes following decades of pollution linked to oil exploration. Although HYPREP’s primary mandate is environmental restoration, recurring violence has raised fears that insecurity could undermine community stability and affect ongoing intervention projects.
The recent appeal from the agency’s governing board points to a growing concern that restoring polluted land alone may not be enough if violence continues to claim lives across the area. For residents still grappling with the aftermath of repeated attacks, the demand for peace now extends beyond environmental recovery to the more immediate need for safety and justice.
