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Rivers Monarch Begs Wike For Staff Of Office 9 Months After Coronation

The Amayanabo of Bille Kingdom in Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State, king Igbikingeri Ngowari Cornelius-Herbert, has appealed to the state governor, Nyesom Wike, give him the staff of office to enable him carry out royal functions as tradition requires.

The monarch was installed since May 2021, but he is yet to be given the staff of office which would make him legally entitled to the throne.

The royal father made the appeal when he spoke to newsmen in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.

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He said, “ I’m appealing to our governor, His Excellency,  Nyesom Wike,  to attend to our application so I can carry out my functions as a king. Right now my functions are limited. I cannot act or attend some functions because I don’t have the legal backing from the government; I am only using the traditional baton to act, as a kingdom we need the Staff of office to enable us to work well with the government.”

He also revealed that  his leadership has set up a committee comprising members from the CDC, youths, women and men of Bille to monitor illegal oil bunkering activities in the area to support the state government’s effort to rid the state of the menace.

The monarch of Bille Kingdom said the kingdom is at the forefront of the fight against kpofire activities, as it has greatly destroyed his peoples’ only means of survival as fishermen.

He, however, appealed to Governor Wike to recognize his stool having been upgraded to second class, to enable him to carry out his functions efficiently, especially in the fight to curb illegal bunkering activities in the state.

He stated further that, “After the Degema Local Government Chairman,  John Williams, addressed the Degema Council of Traditional Rulers on government directives to end illegal bunkering activities in the state,  I went back to my Kingdom and made a public proclamation which I sent a copy to the Degema Council Boss.

“I told my people that we do not want to be the first offender of the government directives, made them know the implications and urged all indigenes of Bille whether home or abroad in connection to illegal bunkering to desist from such.

“We have set up a committee from the youth, women, men and Community Development Committee (CDC) Bodies of Bille to monitor activities of illegal oil bunkering activities in the area.

“We are happy that we have government backing on the fight against kpofire, because the effect is much on our environment, our waterways are messed up, our mangroves dead, all the aquatic life in our waters is no more as fishermen and women. Our economic sustenance has been destroyed long ago, we no longer eat fresh fish, and instead we buy ice imported fish from the market.”

The Amayanabo of Bille Kingdom further appealed to the state government to partner with the Kingdom on security in order to support and direct the local security outfit which patrols major waterways.

“Our boys are living no stone unturned to see to it that they are on patrol on our major waterways every day. If the government will encourage their efforts it will go a long way to secure the territory, because the security bill is very high.

“We are calling on the government to partner with us on security, direct us on security and take the lead on security, so that the planning, execution of it will be part of government effort because there may be some areas we will take actions and government would say we have taken laws into our hands. For now, we do not operate outside our major water routes to avoid stepping over our boundaries.”

Amayanabo of Bille Kingdomking IgbikingeriNYESOME WIKEPortharcourt
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