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• My husband’s killers must be brought to book –Nursing mother insists
• Nwifuru wades in, voids banishment, bans armed groups
From Uchenna Inya, Abakaliki
Ekoli Edda, a small but thickly populated community in the southern part of Ebonyi State has remained one of the security flashpoints in the state as a result of conflicts, which usually come with political undertones.
The people of the community have always been divided along political lines, leading to incessant crises that have claimed many lives and properties worth billions of naira destroyed.
The conflict took a dangerous dimension on December 26, 2022 when three persons were killed. Among those killed were a youth leader, Eseni Kalu Egwu and a younger brother to the state chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Stanley Okoro Emegha. Emegha himself narrowly escaped death.
Although it was alleged that the youth leader was killed by members of the defunct Ebubeagu Security Network, which was established by the then governor of the state, David Umahi, the allegation could not be substantiated.
Tension mounted in the community until the leadership of the town union was dissolved and a caretaker committee appointed to oversee the affairs of the community.
An election was subsequently conducted and a new leadership emerged last year. The new leadership, however, were members of the caretaker committee. For a while, there was relative peace after the election but the peace was disrupted when 51 persons who were accused of fuelling the conflict were granted amnesty by Governor Francis Nwifuru in April this year, after their training by the military on different skills.
They were empowered with a grant of N2 million each by the governor, as part of the amnesty, to start-up businesses with the skills they acquired. They were said to be those who defended the community during a violent clash with their Cross River neighbours.
The fighters surrendered their arms including eight mortar bombs, 29 AK-47 rifles, and 21 pump-action guns to the military before the amnesty was granted.
The amnesty, however, didn’t go down well with the town union leaders, who warned them not to step their toes into the community, alleging that they had criminal records. Subsequently, a fresh crisis started in the community following the return of the men granted amnesty.
In May this year, the men who were granted amnesty organised a thanksgiving ceremony. But the event which was held at Egbebu playground in the community was disrupted when suspected political thugs stormed the venue and dismantled the canopies mounted for the event. The thugs also vandalised plastic chairs and other items arranged for the event.
Dr Eni Uduma Chima, who was chairman of the local government when the community had a conflict with the Cross River people, described the thugs as supporters of his political rivals from the community.
“Those that wanted to disrupt the thanksgiving service our people held to appreciate God for what he used our dear governor to do for them were used by political opposition within the community.
“All of them are members of a political group and the funny thing is that they constitute about five per cent of the entire community. They don’t have the capacity to do anything.
“They came to disrupt the programme. They dismantled the canopies, scattered the chairs, spoiled the decorations but in honour of the words I gave to the law enforcement agencies that there wouldn’t be any problem, we talked to our people and it was resolved and we have forgiven them. The community has come back to life and it is bubbling,” he said.
Last month, Eni and his younger brother, Uduma Chima escaped assassination in the community. Eni’s SUV was shattered with bullets during the attack. Houses and other valuables in the community were destroyed during the incident. Eyewitnesses said thugs, numbering over 10, carried out the attack. One of them, Chima Oko Obasi disclosed that the thugs fired at Eni who is also a former member of the state House of Assembly while he was returning from an inspection of a torched house, which was said to belong to one Ama Okoro Ibiam, a Port- Harcourt based businessman.
He said that an earlier attack by the thugs occurred around 10:00am on June 1, when the body of Okoro Obasi of Ndibom village in the community was being conveyed to the mortuary.
He also alleged that the children of the deceased and their friends were attacked and heavy machete cuts inflicted on them.
Another eyewitness, Nnachi Ndem said: “We were at Mgborokuma when Catcham Boys came there and started shooting at us. Three persons nearly lost their lives. They have been attacking us since our members returned from prison following the amnesty granted them by our dear governor.
“Our people are not happy and we are waiting to see how the government will handle this sad incident.”
He cautioned that the community may rise up in self defence if nothing definite was done immediately to arrest the situation. The crisis continued to escalate until a few weeks ago when the town union declared Eni and his brother, Uduma banished from the community.
The union, which is known as Ekoli Band of Hope, also declared that the two brothers will pay N106 million as fine after serving the banishment, accusing them of causing the crises in the community. The banishment caused tension in the area with more killings, maiming and destruction.
On Wednesday July 9, the crisis took a more dangerous dimension when another member of the community, Nnachi Uzor was shot dead in his house in the afternoon. Suspected political thugs had stormed the house when he was undressing his children that returned from school and shot him dead, leaving behind his wife and four children.
The wife, Onyinye, who is nursing a two-month-old baby called for justice for her murdered husband. The grieving widow said the killing of her husband, who she described as her breadwinner, has shattered the family.
She narrated the incident thus: “I and my husband were in our house undressing our children that returned from school when a group of armed men stormed our house.
“An argument ensued between them and my husband. Then, one of them ordered Deri to shoot my husband and he was shot dead immediately.
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“My son told him, ‘you have killed my father’ and picked a stone to hit Deri. Deri threatened to kill him if the stone touched him again. “At that point, the group left our house and we started crying.”
She described her husband as a very good and peaceful person who never had an issue with anyone and wondered why he was killed.
“I am very sad. I don’t know how I can survive my husband’s killing. My husband was not a trouble maker; he was a very calm, respectful and law abiding person.
“So, why should they kill him? Security agencies and the government should ensure justice for my husband.
“As you can see, I am nursing a two-month-old baby and my other three children are also in their tender ages. How are we going to survive their father’s death?”
The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Joshua Ukandu confirmed the incident.
He said: “We have deployed our men there and we have also arrested two persons. We are investigating the matter and as of now, that area is relatively calm.”
Governor Francis Nwifuru, who was visibly angry over the crisis, summoned major stakeholders of the community, including the state APC chairman, Chief Stanley Okoro Emegha, Eni Uduma and his brother, Uduma, the town union executives, the traditional ruler of the community, some serving government officials from the area, among others to a meeting in his office to find a lasting solution to the crisis.
The governor directed Eni to first speak on the crisis and proffer solutions to it.
Eni who went down memory lane to narrate the genesis of the crisis, accused Emegha and the town union president, Kalu Ama Mba of causing the crisis by using their loyalists, popularly known as Catcham Boys in the area, against him and his own loyalists. He also accused the traditional ruler of the community of being political and taking sides in the crisis. He recommended the dissolution of the town union leadership, voiding the banishments against him and his younger brother, reactivation of Ekoli police post in the community, disarming of all the civilians in the community bearing arms, including the Catcham Boys, returning of his MAC-truck which has been missing since July 9, as well as resolution of how one of his loyalists, Nnachi Uzor was killed.
He also averred that the traditional ruler of the community should be made to be the father of all and should avoid getting involved in partisan politics.
On the orders of the governor, the state APC chairman, Emegha responded to the accusations made by the former lawmaker.
Emegha, who was visibly angry with Eni for mentioning his name, wondered why he was accused when he was occupied with his duties as party chairman. He said he has passed the level of community politics and was interested in state politics, urging Eni to stop accusing him of having a hand in the crisis.
When asked by the governor to make his own recommendations to end the crisis, Emegha said Eni should be advised to steer clear from the community lands and sand, which he said were the reason for the crisis.
Kalu Ama Mba, the town union president, was also asked by the governor to speak and proffer solutions to the crisis. Mba told the governor that Eni was using his loyalists, who he said bear the name Trigger-Happy Boys, against the community.
He admitted that the town union was worried when 51 persons who were accused of having criminal records were granted amnesty by the governor and that he actually opposed their return to the community. He added that when they succeeded in returning to the area, they started announcing that they were in charge, causing problems again.
In his recommendations, he urged the governor to prevail on Eni to submit himself to the town union and traditional rulers as leaders of the community. Mba also recommended that the banishment of Eni and his brother should stand and that after the seven years period, they will pay N106 million as general damages for the property destroyed in the area.
In his ruling, Governor Nwifuru declared the banishment null and void. He said the action of the town union against the two brothers negates the principles of fair hearing as enshrined in the constitution of Nigeria.
He said: “We disagree on the banishment. We disagreed on one condition – that the banishment cannot hold because it negates the provisions of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and because of that, it cannot stand.”
He warned that no civilian in the community, no matter the status, should bear arms and that anyone who goes contrary to his warning would be dealt with accordingly.
The governor disbanded all the illegitimate youth groups in the area and ordered that only the recognised youth groups should operate in line with the law.
“No civilian, no matter who that person is, whether it’s Catcham Boys, whether it’s Trigger-Happy Boys, whether it’s Amnesty Boys – anyone found with any ammunition or arms should be dealt with according to the rule of law.
“Two, Eni requested that his MAC-truck diverted to an unknown destination should be returned to him. The community should provide his MAC-truck and return it to him.
“Three, Eni said that Stanley should be able to guarantee his boys as he did in the community. We disagree because it was established that Stanley did not have boys. We attributed all the activities of the Catcham Boys to the development union president.
“Four, that the town union leadership should be dissolved because they are not neutral. We disagree because issues with one person cannot necessitate dissolving the town union executive.
“We also agree that the traditional ruler as a father of the entire community belongs to everybody and belongs to nobody. So, he should not join anybody in playing politics. But that doesn’t mean that his interests should not be shown to the people and he must not go against the government rules and order.
“Again, that the police station in Ekoli should be activated properly and well staffed, we also agreed with Eni. So, out of the seven requests he made, we accepted five and threw away two.
“The summation of the APC chairman’s stand is that Eni should stop interfering in the village town union, community town union, especially the community land and sand. We say not Eni alone. Everybody should allow the community leaders to be independent and exercise their powers according to the rule of law created by the community.
“Nobody is authorised to interfere in the activities of the community, especially as regards the land that belongs to the traditional leadership and the sand of the community that belongs to the development union. That all the stakeholders, everybody should desist from interfering in the activities of the traditional rulers and the traditional institution, the town union executive. They are independent. That is the submission.
“We amended the submission of the party chairman to read what I said, that the Happy Trigger Boys’ activities in the community should stop forthwith. We agreed with it 100 percent that there will be nothing like Happy Trigger Boys activities in the community.
“Anybody found wanting should be treated like a criminal. That is what the person is. There is nothing like one person or anybody or group of persons constituting youths against the community youth. We disagree on that,” the governor said.
