PORT HARCOURT, Rivers State – July 20, 2025 – A long-standing dispute between the King of Elem-Kalabari, Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, and the Bille Kingdom in Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State has escalated, creating palpable tension across the region. The Bille community is accusing Asari-Dokubo of orchestrating a plan to unleash his “Amama soldiers” to intimidate them and seize their ancestral lands. However, Dokubo has vehemently dismissed these claims, counter-accusing the Bille Kingdom of sponsoring rampant criminality and illegal oil bunkering.
The Bille Chiefs and Elders Council, speaking in Port Harcourt, alleged that individuals believed to be members of the “Amama Soldiers” have already conducted surveillance in their territory, taking pictures of strategic locations. Alabo Boma Renner Dappa, Spokesperson for the Bille Council, asserted that Asari-Dokubo intends to annex their area as part of his “Asari’s Kalabari Territory.”
Renner appealed to the Nigerian Government, the Rivers State Government, the Department of State Services (DSS), the media, the international community, and all peace-loving citizens of the Niger Delta to intervene in what they describe as Dokubo’s plot. He painfully recalled that over 25 years ago, when Dokubo was President of the Ijaw Youth Council, the Bille Kingdom suffered significant losses, including lives and property, from violent attacks linked to similar circumstances.
“We have observed with growing unease what appears to be coordinated movements and activities carried out by individuals reportedly acting under the directive of HRH Alhaji Mujahid Asari Dokubo, leader of the Amama group,” Renner stated. He detailed specific incidents: “On January 8th and 9th, 2025, armed individuals operating in gunboats were observed patrolling Dabira, Touma, Jike-Ama, and Emmanuel-Ama, peaceful and historically rooted Bille communities. These individuals reportedly carried out unauthorized surveillance, including filming and photographing the environment, while making unsettling remarks and displaying behavior that many residents found intimidating.”
Renner further claimed, “Credible information available to us strongly indicates that Alhaji Asari Dokubo has concluded plans to launch a full-scale attack on several Bille communities in the coming days, with the objective of sacking indigenous people from their ancestral lands to enable forceful territorial expansion.” He also alleged that Asari-Dokubo’s “Amama group has been unlawfully recruiting many young people and gathering lethal weapons,” drawing a painful parallel to past conflicts.
The Bille Council urged the DSS and the police to launch immediate investigations, affirming that the people of Bille would resist any attempt to conquer their territory. They confirmed having formally notified local government leadership, divisional police officers, and the state government of the planned attack, noting a lack of official response to date.
In a swift and fiery response, King Asari-Dokubo described the Bille people’s claims as “unfounded.” He asserted that since his ascension as Amanyanabo, the Bille community has persistently launched personal attacks against him.
“Everybody knows that Bille is the center of criminality, the security people know about it. Bille is the headquarters of bunkering. Everybody knows it,” Dokubo declared, accusing the Bille people of sponsoring illegal oil bunkering and harboring kidnappers. He recounted a past incident where a governorship candidate, Dele Cole, made similar assertions, leading to attacks from the Bille community.
“Nobody is quarreling or wants Bille to be Kalabari. I will be the last person to want Bille to be Kalabari,” Dokubo stated, adding, “As my mouth dey sharp na so my hand dey sharp. Na so my head dey sharp.” He claimed his own ancestral town, Obonomo, has a larger population than Bille. He suggested that Bille’s continuous “problems” stem from their involvement in crime, questioning the absence of elders to “restrain and rein these their youth in.”
“Bille, even my grandfather’s town, Obonomo have more people, more population than Bille. Because Kalabari people are nonchalant, and there is one Kalabari man, Asari Dokubo, they know will not agree to their evil plans and their evil plot they are committing, about their kidnapping, the bunkering and all manner of crimes,” he said. He concluded with a stark warning: “The day one community in Kalabari will stand up, Bille will be no more. That is the truth of the matter but it is because Kalabari people don’t care.”
The escalating war of words, coupled with allegations of armed surveillance and illegal recruitment, paints a grim picture of escalating tensions that require urgent attention from state and federal authorities to prevent further conflict.
