Follow Us on Google
From Uchenna Inya, Abakaliki and Jude Chinedu, Enugu
Ebonyi State council of elders has supported Governor Francis Nwifuru’s stringent measures to forestall further breakdown of law and order in the war between the people of Amasiri, Afikpo Local Government and Oso Edda in Edda Local Government areas of the state.
The two neighbouring communities have been at war for decades with many lives lost and property worth billions of naira destroyed.
Last week, suspected warlords invaded Okporojo, Oso Edda and massacred residents of the area and took the heads of four of them away. The warlords burnt houses and destroyed many other properties.
Governor Francis Nwifuru, who visited the scene on Saturday, ordered immediate dethronement of the two traditional rulers of Amasiri, dissolution of village heads and town union in the community.
The governor also sacked all the political appointees in the area, shut all the schools in the community, and imposed a 24 -hour curfew on it after an emergency security meeting over the crisis.
The state elders council commended the stringent measures by the governor against the community. The council said the measures will forestall further breakdown of law and order and prevent other communities in the state from engaging in crisis.
Chairman of the council, Chief Ben Okah, stated this on Sunday after an emergency meeting of the elders in Abakaliki, the state capital.
“We want to state very strongly that we strongly condemn the gruesome murder of four people in Okporojo by the Amasiri community.
“This type of thing has not happened in Ebonyi State, and is happening in a place that you consider to be an elite place in the state. A place with very many leaders with good education. It is very appalling and we strongly condemn it.
“More so, when the state governor was already deep in settling the little minor boundary issues they had, suddenly, we’re looking up with an entire village being down, people killed and beheaded. We Strongly condemn it, we totally condemn it because it is unprecedented. “It is not seen anywhere in Ebonyi State. It’s the first time this type of thing is happening and whether it was provoked or not, the action taken by that community, Amasiri has brought Ebonyi State into bad news, we seriously condemn it.
“We also listened to the governor’s speech in which he told us the resolutions of the security council made up of the army, the police, and so on.
“We wish to strongly support the actions taken by the governor which will deter other communities around that place or anywhere in the Ebonyi State from committing such crimes on fellow human beings.
Other News
“The government is well equipped and has been walking round the clock, settling all communal problems. So, why should this occur today? We believe that the condition set out by the security council of Ebonyi State should be met by the perpetrators, which is the Amasiri community, because the nature of the attack is indescribable.
“The governor has set up a condition upon which they can start talking. But, before then, as you know, he has set up several methods of stopping any reprisal from Oso Edda and, also, stopping any further attack from Amasiri. “Amasiri is now closed down, the schools are now closed down, the traditional rulers are all removed from office,” Okah stated.
Also, a senior lawyer and human rights advocate, Agbai N. Agwu, has defended Governor Nwifuru’s actions over the killing and beheading of residents of Okporojo village in Oso Edda community, Edda Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
In a petition dated February 2, 2026, obtained by Daily Sun, Agwu described the steps taken by the governor as “corrective administrative measures” rather than acts of despotism.
“Traditional rulers and political appointees are the eyes and ears of the government. When beheadings and property destruction occur under their watch without prior intelligence being shared with the state, their willful blindness or active complicity renders them unfit for office,” he said.
He argued that legal advocacy should not be used to shield suspected perpetrators of communal violence.
“While the right to legal advocacy is sacrosanct, it must not be weaponised to shield suspected orchestrators of communal violence or to undermine the sovereign responsibility of the State to protect life and property,” he stated.
Agwu also questioned the motive behind the frequent petitions allegedly written in favour of Amasiri in the lingering Amasiri–Oso Edda conflict.
“The alacrity and frequency with which he issues petitions in favour of Amasiri are becoming increasingly suspicious. His interventions appear less like impartial legal advocacy and more like a coordinated effort to distract security agencies from ongoing investigations,” he added.
He dismissed claims that traditional burial rites in Amasiri made the attack impossible.
“The claim that a traditional ‘lockdown’ for burial rites makes an attack impossible is logically flawed. It is a farce and a derisory alibi,” he said.
Citing Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution, Agwu maintained that the governor was duty-bound to take firm action.
He urged the National Security Adviser and the Chief of Defence Staff to ignore “quick-fire” petitions and continue supporting the Ebonyi State Government’s efforts to restore order.
