• Man beheaded, pregnant woman, child, 6 others killed, 3 abducted, houses burnt in Ebonyi community
From Uchenna Inya, Abakaliki
Residents of Idima autonomous community in Edda Local Government Area of Ebonyi State are counting their loses in the attack by suspected warlords, which left a pregnant woman, her child and six other residents of the area dead.
The people of Okporojo in the community and their Ndukwe neighbours, Amasiri in Afikpo LGA of the state have been at war for decades over land matters, with many lives lost and properties worth millions of naira destroyed.
The two communities clashed recently, which led to loss of lives and valuable properties. The renewed hostilities led to people from Edda LGA taking a detour through Afikpo town for fear of being attacked on Amasiri road.
One of the victims, Nkama Ikwor, said he lost two houses in the incident. “My two houses were burnt. I didn’t remove anything from the houses. I lost everything in the attack. When we started hearing gunshots, we immediately started running for our lives because it is life first.
“While in the bush, we saw houses on fire but there was nothing we could do because, if you go there, you will be killed. So, when calm returned, I came back and saw my houses razed. Some persons were killed, including a pregnant woman and her child.
“We want solutions to these killings. Government should, please, come to our aid and resolve these boundary issues that are causing these killings,” he said.
President-general of Idima community, Nkama Okoro Agha, said six people, including a pregnant woman and her little child, were brutally murdered and valuable properties worth millions of naira destroyed by the warlords.
Agha noted that one of the six victims of the attack hailed from Afikpo and gave his name as Abagha Chukwu, from Ukpa in Afikpo LGA, but he was living in Okporojo till his untimely death.
He disclosed that the incident was not the first or second time warlords attacked Okporojo. He recalled, on February 6, 2023, warlords invaded the community, killed some residents of the area and abducted some from their farms.
He appealed to Governor Francis Nwifuru to urgently intervene in the crisis to prevent further killings and called on security agencies to bring the perpetrators to book.
He said: “We, the people of Okporojo, in Idima autonomous community, Edda LGA of Ebonyi State, totally condemn this unfortunate attack launched against our people.
“This attack, which consumed the lives of our people, the Okporojo innocent citizens, including a pregnant woman and her little child, and even a resident in our community who came from Ukpa in Afikpo LGA, they were murdered by the Amasiri warlords.
“As this seemed not to be enough, the Amasiri militias have continued to launch attacks, destroying property worth millions of naira in Okporojo community just because of the land dispute.
“Remember that on, February 6, 2023, the people of Amasiri invaded Okporojo and abducted our harmless people, including Oko Agwu Ama, Dick Ama Oduko and David Oko Arusi who were working and searching for their green pastures in their farms and up till date we have not seen them return home. We don’t know whether they are still alive or dead.
“After the abduction, the Amasiri militias came to Okporojo Edda village, started destroying our properties and even beheaded one Chima Orji in our village. The said Chima Orji was buried without his head after his death as a result of the unfortunate invasion against our people.
“On this note, we appeal to Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State to urgently swing into action to stop this attack against our people, by ensuring issues lingering on the disputing land are settled to save the lives and properties of innocent citizens.
“We are not comfortable with the way the Amasiri militias have been engaged by their sponsors to destroy lives and properties of our people since 2023. We are toeing the line of peace because of the bold steps so far you have taken as a governor to ensure Ebonyi is a crisis-free state since you assumed office.”
Chairman of Okporojo Development Union, Imo Samuel Oduko, said the land in dispute belongs to Okporojo, Idima Edda, stressing that his people have been living there before Amasiri people were hired by their forefathers to work for them and set animal traps in their farms, through which they continued settling within the area.
“The disputable land is our land, which we inherited from our forefathers. We are surprised that our forefathers, the original landlords of the land in dispute, during their lifetime, hired Amasiri people to work for them and set animal traps in their farms, but now our hired workers and tenants have turned to fight against us, the landlords.
“We are calling on Governor Francis Nwifuru and other relevant authourities to come to our aid because these Amasiri warlords have continued to launch deadly attacks on our people and this is not acceptable,” he said.
Meanwhile, the state government has commenced the technical boundary tracing within the disputed land to restore peace in the two communities.
The technical boundary tracing took a journey of over five hours into the bush connecting Otorowi stream, the acclaimed boundary by Edda people, which runs from the innermost part of the bush to the expressway with the surveyors establishing the coordinates between the points.
Commissioner for Border Peace and Conflict Resolution in the state, Dr. Donatus Ilang, led a team of stakeholders from both Afikpo and Edda local government areas to the disputed land recently. The stakeholders, included the two council chairmen from the area, two coordinators, 10 elders from both sides, surveyors from the state government and security agents, among others.
Ilang said the state government was committed to ensuring that peace reigned in all parts of the state and that was why Governor Nwifuru mandated him to do everything possible to restore peace in the area. He encouraged the people to cooperate with the state government to achieve lasting peace in the area.
Ilang said: “We are here for fact-finding, to authenticate the submissions you have made to the state government and to seek lasting solution that will bring sustainable peace here. We are brothers and sisters, and this piece of land can not separate us.
“I appreciate our dear governor who has given us this mandate of ensuring that peace is maintained in all parts of the state. We want to assure the people of Amasiri in Afikpo and Oso Edda in Edda of the full commitment of our governor in restoring peace in this place. What we need from you is total cooperation and in no distant time peace will return.”
The commissioner, however, appealed for calm as the tracing continues, assuring the people of state government’s genuine efforts in ensuring the return of peace in the shortest time.
He enjoined the stakeholders of the two communities to prevail on their youths to toe the path of peace to ensure that Nwifiru’s move to restore peace in the area was actualized.
The two council chairmen, Timothy Nwachi (Afikpo) and Chima Ekumankama (Edda), commended the swift response of the governor to the cry of their people in the crisis.