ASABA DEATH: PANDEF DEMANDS URGENT POLICE, DSS PROBE INTO POLITICAL VIOLENCE ACROSS NIGER DELTA
By Wilson Macaulay
ASABA: The Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has called for immediate and comprehensive investigations into the recent outbreak of political violence in Asaba, Delta State, which claimed a human life, warning that the escalation of political hostilities across the South-South region must not be allowed to degenerate into a wider security crisis.
The organisation’s intervention followed a series of disturbing incidents recorded in the Warri/Effurun axis on September 18, Calabar on November 4, and the latest violence in Asaba on November 7, 2026.
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In a press statement issued on Monday, November 9, PANDEF expressed deep concern over the developments, describing the incidents as a direct affront to the region’s longstanding traditions of peaceful coexistence, tolerance and political accommodation.
The Forum specifically urged the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Services (DSS) and other relevant security agencies to launch urgent, thorough and impartial investigations into the incidents in the affected locations.
It insisted that the investigations must go beyond the immediate perpetrators to identify the masterminds and sponsors of the violence, stressing that all those found culpable must be apprehended and brought to book in accordance with the law.
PANDEF maintained that allowing political violence to go unchecked would undermine public confidence in democratic institutions and threaten the peace and security necessary for the development of the Niger Delta.
The organisation equally called on political parties and their leaders to take responsibility for the conduct of their supporters, cautioning against inflammatory rhetoric, provocative actions and political mobilisation capable of triggering violent confrontations.
It also advised political parties to hold rallies and large gatherings in properly secured and controlled venues, with adequate security arrangements to protect participants and prevent clashes.
While calling for justice for victims of political violence, PANDEF urged all stakeholders to place the collective interest of the region above partisan considerations.
The statement, signed by its National Chairman, Ambassador Godknows Boladei Igali, PhD, OON, emphasised that the South-South must not sacrifice its heritage of peaceful coexistence on the altar of political ambition.
DemocracyNewslineNewspaper November 10th, 2026
