Bayelsa Govt Again Mediates Between Akenfa, NDDC, Renaissance Over Abandoned Bridge

Bayelsa State Deputy Governor, Dr. Peter Akpe, has appealed to the Akenfa Community in Yenagoa Local Government Area to suspend its protest and remove the blockade mounted at the facility of Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited over the non-completion of the Akenfa link bridge project.

Akpe made the appeal on Tuesday when he met with leaders of the Akenfa community at the Government House in Yenagoa, where he sympathised with residents over the prolonged abandonment of the project.

The Deputy Governor urged the community to pursue dialogue and other peaceful means of resolving its grievances rather than disrupting oil production activities.

He said the state government was aware of the official handover of the Akenfa Bridge project to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in 2025 and promised to engage the interventionist agency to ascertain the current status of the project.

Akpe also expressed concern that a tripartite committee constituted by the previous administration to facilitate the resumption of work on the bridge had not achieved its mandate.

According to him, the issue was brought to his attention for the first time since he assumed office as Deputy Governor, assuring the community that the state government would work with relevant stakeholders towards the resumption and completion of the project.

He said, “Embarking on demonstrations and creating blockades to public facilities is not the best option to undertake in order to elicit government’s attention to address your grievances. Dialogue remains the best option to seeking concrete resolution because even when you fight, you will still come back to the settlement table.”

Akpe added that the community should not disrupt the operations of the oil company, stressing that grievances should be addressed within the ambit of the law.

“Let me assure you that we will interface with the NDDC to do the needful,” he said.

Also speaking, the Commissioner for Information, Strategy and Orientation, Mrs. Ebiuwou Koku-Obiyai, recalled that a meeting held on December 4, 2025, under the late Deputy Governor, Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, had addressed the issue.

She said the state government had informed the Akenfa community that the project had officially been handed back to the NDDC, while a tripartite steering committee comprising representatives of the Akenfa Community, NDDC and the state government was constituted to facilitate the resumption of work.

Members of the committee include the state NDDC representative, Senator Deinyabofa Dimaro; Commissioner for Special Duties (Central), Mr. Mandy Akpallo; Chief Dikivie Ikiogha; Technical Adviser to the Governor on NDDC Matters, Mr. Kuro Nyenye; Chief Isiya Albert; Secretary to the Akenfa Community, Mr. Wilson Mumeya; Youth President, Mr. Moses Izibekiebo; and an engineer to be nominated by the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure.

Earlier, the Paramount Ruler of Akenfa, HRH Godspower Thompson Obaya, and a community stakeholder, Mr. Wilson Mumeya, attributed the latest protest to the hardship residents have experienced as a result of the prolonged abandonment of the bridge project.

They said the project was initiated in 2010 following an alleged agreement between the NDDC and Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited.

The community leaders, however, expressed appreciation to the Deputy Governor for his intervention, saying it had renewed their hope that the long-awaited project would eventually be completed.