Members of the Tobin Chieftaincy House in Finima, Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State, have maintained that they acted in self-defence during the violence that rocked the community on Saturday, August 22, 2026, alleging that their assailants were intent on attacking members of the house.
A member of the Tobin House, Dagogo Tobin, stated this on Monday, August 24, 2026, in a telephone interview with Kristina Reports, while calling on the police and other security agencies to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident and establish what transpired.
Finima Community erupted in violence in the early hours of Saturday, leaving several residents injured and one person with a severed hand, reportedly from a machete attack.
Several properties were also damaged. The incident also reportedly involved attacks on the residences of two senior community leaders, with gunshots fired at their homes.
Tobin urged the security agencies to be wary of narratives that, according to him, could divert attention from the circumstances surrounding the violence. He questioned why, if Tobin House members were responsible for the attacks alleged by their opponents, those reportedly involved in the confrontation were found within the Tobin House section of the community.
“Observe that no Tobin House person, whether suspect or victim, was found outside the Tobin House section of Finima, none. If Tobin House members were the attackers, how come the injured, the suspects, and all others were all in the Tobin House section of the community?”
He also questioned the circumstances surrounding the reported shooting at the residence of Dagogo Lambert Brown, particularly the extent of the damage. According to him, the available videos appeared to show bullet holes on the fence of the residence, while he claimed that other parts of the property appeared unaffected.
“If someone wants to kill you, will they be shooting at the wall of your house? No window, no door, nothing else was affected, only a few bullet holes on a fence as everyone can see in the videos going viral.”
Tobin further challenged the account concerning the reported attack on the residence of Tuwonimi Iyariari Brown, asking whether the property was located anywhere near the Tobin House quarters.
He maintained that the circumstances should be subjected to an independent investigation rather than being interpreted through competing narratives from the opposing chieftaincy houses.
He also questioned the security response to the incident, asking why police personnel allegedly mobilised from Port Harcourt were subsequently asked to leave.
“Let the Police explain where they were when the shooting started that night,” he said, adding that the circumstances surrounding the deployment and response should form part of the investigation.
A Kristina Reports team that visited parts of Finima found that the reported shooting incidents involving Dagogo Lambert Brown and Tuwonimi Iyariari Brown occurred outside the Tobin House precinct, while other incidents reported during the violence occurred within the Tobin House quarters.
The team also observed no obvious structural damage to Dagogo Lambert Brown’s residence apart from what appeared to be bullet marks on the fence.
Kristina Reports further learnt that the Chairman of Tobin House, Darlington Adango Tobin, who was reportedly targeted during the incident, had been arrested by the police and was being detained at the time of the report. The circumstances surrounding his arrest could not be independently established.
Efforts to obtain the reaction of the Rivers State Police Command to the issues raised by Tobin were unsuccessful as the Command’s Public Relations Officer, Blessing Agabe, had not responded to enquiries sent to her mobile line as of press time.
A review by Kristina Reports of a viral video showing a victim with an apparently severe machete injury to his hand found him receiving treatment on a hospital bed. However, the circumstances leading to his presence in the Tobin House quarters at about 3am, as alleged in accounts surrounding the incident, could not be independently established.
The security response to the incident has also become a subject of discussion. Several residents who spoke to Kristina Reports privately, citing concerns about their safety, claimed they did not see security personnel in the affected areas immediately after the gunshots were heard around 3am.
An unnamed source, however, told the virtual newspaper that military personnel from the Army and Navy responded after receiving reports of the shootings and helped to restore calm. Kristina Reports could not independently verify the competing accounts of the timing of the security response.
Meanwhile, a Tobin House member who spoke on condition of anonymity alleged that the Bonny Local Government Council excluded the Tobin House Owu-Ogbo from funds distributed to various cultural groups, asking its members instead to identify with the Finima Opu-Ogbo.
The source linked the allegation to the resignation of Idamina Tobin, formerly a Senior Special Adviser to the Bonny LGA Chairman on Science and Technology and reportedly Vice Captain of the Tobin House Owu-Ogbo. Kristina Reports could not independently establish that the alleged funding issue was the reason for his resignation.
The Bonny Local Government Council had, on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, announced the disbursement of ₦31.5 million to various cultural groups in the area in a statement signed by the Chairman’s Senior Special Adviser on Culture, Richard Ibani Benstowe.
A review of the beneficiaries’ list by Kristina Reports showed an entry for the Finima Owu-Ogbo, but did not show a separate entry for the Tobin House Owu-Ogbo. However, it could not be established from the list whether the funding was allocated strictly on a community basis, particularly as some chieftaincy-house groups also appeared among the beneficiaries.
The source further alleged that the Bonny LGA Chairman, Abinye Pepple, declined to approve security for the Tobin House Owu-Ogbo Festival, despite the alleged exclusion of the group from the funding.
The source questioned the subsequent decision by the Chairman to suspend cultural activities in Finima following the violence, saying the directive effectively prevented the Tobin House from holding its scheduled event.
Kristina Reports contacted the Bonny LGA Chairman for his response to the allegations, but no response had been received as of press time.
The newspaper also learnt that the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Adepoju, had constituted a high-powered investigation team to probe the events of Saturday, August 22, including the circumstances surrounding the violence.
As investigations continue, the competing accounts from the Tobin and Brown Houses remain largely unsubstantiated by an official police account.
A comprehensive investigation by the security agencies will therefore be critical to establishing the sequence of events, identifying those responsible for the violence and determining whether the attacks were connected to the wider chieftaincy and cultural disagreements in Finima.
