From Chijioke Agwu, Abakaliki
A group under the aegis of Effium Indigenous Vanguard, yesterday, called for an immediate suspension of the lawmaker representing Ohauwkwu North constituency in Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Chinedu Awo, for his alleged role in prolonging and escalating the Effium intra-communal war.
This is just as the group equally called on the Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, to urgently take drastic measures to stop Ezza warlords from using their border routes to attack Effium natives in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
At a press briefing in Abakaliki, the chairman of the group, Godwin Ogaba, and secretary, Sampson Isih, accused Ezza people of incessant violation of the peace process and cease-fire order by Ebonyi State government in the lingering war, alleging that the Ezzas were attacking Lebadegum and Ofuke in Akparata axis of Effium.
“It should be noted that the Ezzas have continued to violate every single peace agreement and ceasefire order by the government. Even as at the time of this press release, Ezza fighters are currently attacking Lebadegum and Ofuke in Akparata axis.
“We employ this press release to appeal to Benue State government to complement the effort of Ebonyi State government in nipping this crisis in the bud by urgently taking drastic measures to stop Ezza fighters from using the border routes to come and attack Effium natives as the Ezza fighters who attacked Lebadeg/Ofule villages of Effium are believed to have come from the Benue/Ebonyi boundary. This is important if we avoid another inter-state war.
“Recently, these attacks by Ezzas have graduated from the use of AK-47 and AK- 49 to the use of improvised explosive devices (IED). The Effium natives have suffered so many casualties with over 1,000 killed and over 2,000 houses burnt with properties worth billions of naira destroyed.”