•How warlords made us widows, by Ebonyi women
• I’ve not seen my hubby’s body since they butchered him months ago – Mother of 4
From Uchenna Inya, Abakaliki
In Umuobor community, in Akaeze, Ivo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, it is a tale of woe, following over five decades’ land tussle between the community and its neighbour, Ogwor, Ishiagu, resulting in loss of many lives, and property worth billions of naira destroyed.
The two neighbours have been at war over a vast tract of fertile land known as Elueke since 1933. In 1991, the Supreme Court delivered judgment in favour of Umuobor community.
The judgment ought to have laid the land tussle to rest but killings, maiming and destruction have continued unabated. In fact, the land dispute took a more dangerous twist last year with more killings and destruction, forcing Governor Francis Nwifuru to declare the land a buffer zone. He also set up a committee to find lasting solutions to the dispute.
Late last month, four person were killed on the disputed land while harvesting crops. Three of those killed were from Umuobor while the fourth person, a woman, came from Okue community.
Angered by the killings and destruction, the Umuobor peopl embarked on a protest last week. They carried placards bearing various inscriptions and marched round the area and its environs for hours.
The protesters, made up of widows, youths and other women, alleged that they have lost over 100 persons in the land tussle, describing it as unacceptable. One of them, a pregnant woman, Felicia Ajali, told Daily Sun that her husband and two children were killed on the land last month when she sent them to go and harvest food for the family.
She narrated that: “My husband and children were my strength and they have been killed. This land dispute has affected me a lot; I am the worst hit.
“I sent my husband and my two children to go and harvest cassava for me last month and they were killed. Look at my condition as a pregnant woman, how can I survive this condition?
“I had three children and they killed two of them. I now have only one child. Ogwor people and government should obey Supreme Court judgment and leave our land for us.”
Another widow, Uzochukwu Ajali, disclosed that her own husband was killed on November 9, 2024, when he was harvesting crops on the land and that she has not seen his body since then. She lamented that the warlords butchered him and made a video of the incident, which went viral, and called for the release of his body.
She pointed out that many women of the community are now widows following the land tussle, and called on the state government to intervene in the killings.
“My husband was killed in Elueke land. He was killed on the 9th of November last year by the people of Ishiagu because of a land dispute that was decided by the Supreme Court long ago in favour of Umuobor people.
“My husband was killed in the land while harvesting crops. People that went to farm came back and he was not seen. Later, they posted a video of his killing; they were butchering him in that video they posted.
“Since that time, I have not seen my husband’s body. I have four children and it is very difficult for me to cater for them. Our enemies don’t allow us to harvest our crops in our farms and we are dying of hunger. Look at how hungry we are looking.
“Many women of this community have lost their husbands. Some were killed on the road. Government should come to our aid and stop these killings. This matter has been decided by the Supreme Court but Ogwor people are still dragging this land with us and killing us.
“We have all the documents of this land, including survey plan and the Supreme Court judgment. This land belongs to us. Ogwor people should leave our land for us”, she stated.
Nneka Ogbadu has also lost her breadwinners. Her husband, Joseph Ogbadu, and three children who were catering for her were killed by the warlords. She told Daily Sun that since they were killed in January, life has been difficult for her.
“I have not been myself since they killed my husband and three children. I have not recovered from the killings. This is too much for me. My husband and my children were so caring, they cared for me.
“How can I survive without my husband and my children? Where will I start from? It is better for death to kill me than staying alive. What is this life for again without my husband and children? Why am I still alive?” the distraught woman lamented.
She implored Nwifuru to immediately intervene in the land dispute to prevent further loss of lives and property.
Another woman, Ogenyi Ngozi Agwu, said the community has lost many people in the land dispute and that the community has reported the killings to Nwifuru without anything done to stop it.
“We have complained to the governor about this land. We have told him what is happening to us and he didn’t do anything. Had it been that he intervened, the killings wouldn’t have been this much.
“We have lost many souls in this land issue. Our husbands, sons and daughters have been killed in this war. Many women of this community are now widows, they have lost their husbands.
“We need justice; we are perishing on what belongs to us. This is too much and it must stop. We are asking for justice and equity,” she said.
One of leaders of the community, Michael Obasi, said the people of the community have done everything possible to ensure peace, without their neighbours doing the same. He called on the state government to resolve the land dispute and expressed fear that many more lives may be lost, if the dispute lingers.
“Since this people started this problem, we have been keeping quiet. We didn’t want to fight them because they started making trouble on what doesn’t belong to them.
“They beat our women when they go to farm, they harvest our crops. They mock us that we have don’t have anybody to fight for us, we don’t have men in our place.
“Our people have been doing everything possible to ensure peace but this people don’t want peace, they like trouble. We have been calling on government to intervene, we have been crying for intervention before this people will wipe us out”, Obasi said.
Chief Sylvanus Ibeh, one of the stakeholders of the community, explained that the Ogwor people have dragged them to many courts and that they have been defeating them in the court and wondered why they are still dragging the Elueke land with them when courts all ruled in favour of Umuobor people. He urged the state government to tell Ogwor people to leave the land for Umuobor people, since courts delivered judgment in favour of Umuobor.
“Previous administrations in our dear state know everything about this particular land and they didn’t interfere in anything about it.
“This present administration of Nwifuru should also do the same thing. The governor should leave this land for us; he should remove his hand from it. This is our land and we have all the documents about it, including court rulings,” he stated.
He lamented that the community has lost many lives and property, including schools, churches, houses and other valuables to the crisis.
“They have killed many people in our community. We don’t have firearms, we only have cutlasses we are using for farming but they have lots of weapons which they have been using to kill our people. The killing is too much and it must stop.”