Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, on Tuesday, ordered investigation into the sources of arms and ammunition used during the last Saturday mayhem in Ekpan, Uvwie Local Government area of the state.
Seven persons have so far been arrested by security agencies in connection with the incident.
Uduaghan gave the order when he visited the 93 Battalion, Effurun, headquarters of the Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta, the Operation Restore Hope.
The governor, who reviewed the security situation in the area with community leaders and security agents, directed the Commander of the JTF, Brig.-Gen. Lawrence Ngubane, and the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Ekpan Police Station, Mr. Abel Edibogi, a chief superintendent of police, to institute an enquiry into the sources of weapons used by the rioters.
Although no death was recorded in the crisis, which broke out on Friday, many persons sustained severe injuries.
Uduaghan in the wake of the incident, imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on the community, to prevent loss of lives and property.
Ekpan, a suburb of Warri, is where some strategic business units of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, some oil multinationals and service companies are located.
Our correspondent learnt that the crisis was caused by the bail granted a prominent indigene of the community by a state high court in Kwale, last week.
The suspect was arrested in 2005 in connection with the alleged murder of another indigene of the community.
His triumphant entry and the accompanying celebrations, were said to have angered some members of the community, who took to the streets.
The suspect was manhandled on Friday night by some protesting youths.
However, Uduaghan in his public reaction to the incident on Tuesday, said the manner in which the suspect entered the community after two years� detention at Kwale Federal Prison, was not enough excuse for the aggrieved parties to take up arms.
He warned the security agencies not to allow the perpetrators of the bloody crisis to escape unpunished.
He also ordered that seven suspected masterminds of the riot, who were brought before him, be remanded in the custody of the JTF until further notice.
The governor, before his departure, summoned the leaders of the community to the next weekly meeting of the State Security Council in Warri, on Friday.
Uneasy calm reigned in the area on Tuesday.
Policemen attached to the Quick Response Squad, Warri, led by Mr. Folorunso Ajayi, a superintendent of police, and officers from the Ekpan Police Station, embarked on patrol of the community on the order of the Commissioner of Police in the state command, Mr. Hezekiah Dimka.
Dimka, in a telephone interview, confirmed the arrest of seven persons and added that, �the police were on top of the development in the area.�
Meanwhile, the President of the Movement of the Ijaw International, Mr. Andrew Ekiokenigha, said that the Federal Government and the oil companies must show greater commitment to the development of the Niger Delta.
Ekiokenigba, who spoke with our correspondent in Yenagoa on Thursday, said this would curb hostage taking and militancy in the oil-rich region.
He also said most of the youths involved in militancy, hostage taking, restiveness and pipeline vandalism were qualified graduates without jobs. He urged the government and the multinational oil firms to employ people from the region.