No fewer than 900 residents of Peremabiri Community in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, who fled after the 2015 governorship election violence in the state have returned home.
Our correspondent reports that the displaced persons returned to the community last Monday in more than 10 passenger-boats to the warm embrace of their kinsmen.
They took refuge at the Samson Siasia Stadium in Yenagoa after about two years of refuge in the state capital, following election violence.
In his remarks, the Chairman, Caretaker Committee of the local government, Mr Nigeria Kia, expressed satisfaction for their return to the community.
Kia commended Governor Seriake Dickson for making it possible for them to return to their various communities.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Security Matters, Mr Boma Sperrow-Jack, said the state government had been responsible for the feeding and accommodation of the returnees since 2015.
“In our days, Peremabiri was known for rice planting, today, I am happy that it will be exporting it in large quantity.
“Everyone is happy to go back to his or her ancestral community after a long time,” he said.
Jack urged the people affected to be law abiding, assuring them that normalcy had finally returned to their community.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Amber Asuquo, also assured the returnees of their safety, noting that the community was now calm.
Asuquo, however, advised them to forget about the past, saying that no society could achieve a meaningful development under a state of rancour.
The commissioner also urged them to be law abiding and report any suspected case of violent to the appropriate authority in the community.
Ebitimi Joseph, one of the returnees who spoke on behalf of other returnees expressed joy for returning to their ancestral home.
He commended the state government for the welfare of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) for about two years.