- Lives lost, houses, market burnt
From Scholastica Onyeka, Makurdi
The family of Rev Fr Mark Alagi, a Catholic priest from Benue’s Oju Local Government Area (LGA) and about 200 other community members, are currently devastated after they were rendered homeless and made refugees during the recent crisis between Oju and their neighbouring Ibilla community in Oju Local Government Area.
The protracted Oju-Ibilla communal clash, according to information dates back to 1976, some 47 years ago following the creation of Oju Local Government Area with headquarters at Oju and has claimed innocent lives of residents.
This time again, the crisis reared its ugly head on June 11, 2023, over the location of the University of Applied Science And Technology (UNAST), a development brought by one of the sons of the soil. But regrettably, the school was supposed to bring progress to the area and give access to quality education, and job opportunities to their children and those of their neighbours became a source of clan conflict and destruction.
While the crisis raged on, our correspondent gathered that four persons were killed while houses, vehicles and shops and market stalls were burnt to ashes.
A relative of the priest who asked not to be named spoke to our correspondent recounting horrible experiences and losses in properties running into billions of naira. He said before the crisis was brought under control, over half of Oju community members, including Rev Fr. Alagi’s family home were razed down while women and children and the aged were displaced.
“We have a new house worth over N25 million and a family house worth over N40 million because it’s built with burnt bricks, made in Jos, Plateau state those days. What pains me about the family house is that we have our memories there, credentials, and property documents among others.
“Most importantly, Fr Mark has his books, cassocks, Bible and other religious and private valuables, other memories like photographs of us when we were children with our late parents, all these are gone and we have no place to lay our head.
“Myself and my family, my elder sister, her son and her grandchild, we left with nothing, just our life to the glory of God,” he said.
He also disclosed that besides Rev Fr Mark Alagi, their cousin, Rev Fr. Samuel Odigbo, a Catholic of Otukpo Diocese, also lost everything, his property located in Oju main town and family house in Oju Ipinu, and other valuables to the crisis.
Also speaking, Mrs Grace Eboh, a widow, said she and her children are homeless and have no place to go. “We returned from Kaduna after my husband died to stay in the village. The house they burnt was the only property of my late husband that we have left. All our memories were there. Everything is gone,” the devastated widow said amidst tears.
Some traders at the Oju market who also spoke to our correspondent stated that many businessmen have suffered setbacks after their shops were burnt during the crisis.
“I have just started my own business after serving my boss for eight years. My aged father sold a plot of land to raise money for me to start a business. The business is barely one year and everything was burnt down. What have we done to deserve this? How do I start all over again,” a trader who identified himself simply as James lamented.
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
While it was said that the recent outbreak of communal clashes between Ibilla and Oju Communities of Oju Local Government Area of Benue State, started over the location of the University of Applied Sciences and Technology, (UNAST), the Oju community in setting the records straight said the crisis has both remote and immediate causes.
Remote Causes
In a statement made available to our correspondent by leaders of the Oju community and signed by Okwori Ojajah, National president, of Oju Development Association, Ode Donald, Secretary General, of Oju Development Association and Adole Thomas, National President, Oju Youths Association, there have been long time hostilities between the two communities of Oju and Ibilla which date back 47 years.
According to them, “The mutual antagonism and suspicion between Ibilla and Oju Communities began in 1976 following the creation of Oju Local Government Area with headquarters at Oju.
They explained that after Oju was made the headquarters, the whole of the Ibilla Clan refused to accept the reality and fact of Oju as the Local Government headquarters.
“This position has resulted in persistent agitations by Ibilla for change of name, tension and occasional breakdown of law and order.”
They noted that in response to Ibilla’s recurring agitations, the Benue State Government, Igede leaders and the law courts had, at various times, instituted inquiries into the issues which were all settled and resolved administratively, legally, and constitutionally in favour of Oju based on historical facts.
The statement stated that “Ever since the early 1990s, having failed to achieve their objective, the Ibilla Community has resorted to self-help and expansionist agenda of promoting and projecting the name of “Anyuwogbu” as a possible replacement for “Oju.” This is what has brought them into conflicts with their neighbours, notably Oju and Ukpa communities,” the Oju leaders said.
Narrating the immediate cause of the recent June 11 crisis, the National President, Oju Development Association, Okwori Ojajah, said “In the 47-year-old hostility of Ibilla clan towards Oju clan, we as a community, have consciously played the role of the true mother of the disputed baby in the biblical case in which King Solomon used wisdom to give his famous judgement. We always refrain from being provoked into any reactions that could lead to the breakdown of law and order or the destruction of lives and property on our land.
“We became even more conscious of this fact when our daughter, Mrs Evelyn Okwe, (Current Chairman of Oju), became the first chairman from Oju in the 47-year history of the Local Government, to ensure that nothing untoward happens to taint her tenure.
“For example, about two years ago, a couple of Ibilla youths walked into Obohu-Oju village and killed our son, Edo Aloga in cold blood over a misunderstanding with his wife who hails from Ibilla. Oju people decided not to retaliate in the interest of peace and good neighbourliness.
“And, just a month ago, May 2023, Ibilla youths went and destroyed a building belonging to an Oju man at Umoda-Oju which they said housed the government security agency whose men killed a suspected criminal said to be from Ibilla. It turned out that Ibilla youths acted in error as the building and its owner had no links with the death that provoked the destruction. The Oju community were appealed to by the Igede people and they didn’t react.
“As peace and education-loving people, the Oju community warmly and wholeheartedly welcomed the establishment of UNAST at Oga-Oluwa, our land, first, by not demanding compensation of any kind, secondly, by actively participating in the clearing of the permanent site, jointly with Ainu and Ibilla people and third, by participating in preparatory meetings, notably the one of December 14, 2022, called or attended by the Adirahu Ny’Igede, HRH, Chief Oga Ero, CP (rtd).
During this period, the name of UNAST’s permanent site, Oga-Oluwa, was correctly reflected on working documents and appropriately recorded and captured in the minutes of that meeting.
We were surprised, therefore, when the name “Anyuwogbu” which Professor Johnson Agbinya, the proprietor of UNAST hails from, surfaced on the Invitation Card for the Ground Breaking/Foundation Laying Ceremony of the university posted on the social media less than one week to the occasion.
Worse still, to the best of our knowledge, no personality or leader, including the Chiefs from the Oju clan, the prime catchment Community of the proposed university, was invited to the event.
Sensing that the proposed university might be a smokescreen or an opportunity for the extension of the Ibilla ‘Anyuwogbu’ agenda, we as a community wrote two separate letters dated June 8, 2023, to the Adirahu Ny’Igede, HRH Chief Oga Ero CP (retd), copying relevant authorities, and Prof. Johnson Agbinya, proprietor of the proposed university, in which we expressed our reservations and suggested ways to address them.
Consequently, meetings and consultations took place on the eve and in the morning of the event which resulted in the decision to put off the event and the scheduling of a meeting for June 24 to iron out the grey areas.
With the scheduled meeting for June 24, 2023, to resolve the grey areas, we thought the matter would be resolved amicably. But to our surprise, immediately after the news about the rescheduling of the event got to Ibilla youths, they came out to mount roadblocks on all the roads leading to Oju villages where they manhandled Oju people including women returning from the market and threatened to kill Oju councillor and Mr Mike Ojiya who were even involved in the mediation with Oju people.
The following morning, Sunday, June 11, Ibilla youths again came out to mount roadblocks at the barracks to prevent Oju indigenes from passing and to stop worshippers from attending the First Mass at St. Thomas Catholic Church, Oju, to be celebrated by a newly ordained Oju-born Reverend Father.
They insisted that since the event organized by their son, Professor Agbinya, was not allowed to hold, they would also not allow the one organised by the Oju people for their newly ordained Rev. Father to take place. They seized a car belonging to an Oju son which was later retrieved from them.
Not satisfied, the Ibilla youths began to march towards Oju Community. By the time they arrived at the Federal Low-Cost Housing Estate, Oju youths who got wind of their movement also mobilized and waited at the low-cost housing estate. On sighting Oju youths, the Ibilla youths started attacking them by shooting at them. The youths from Oju fired back to repel them.
Simultaneously, another group of Ibilla youths had already entered the part of Ipinu-Oju, the oldest Oju settlement that is contiguous with the real Anyuwogbu and was shooting. They eventually razed down the entire settlement which is not visible to passersby on the main road traversing Oju town, giving the impression that only Oju youths destroyed the property of Ibilla people. On the contrary Oju youths only reacted to the mind-boggling destruction of property at Ipinu-Oju.”
He urged those who seek to know the truth to visit Ipinu-Oju to confirm his story saying everything that happened thereafter that Sunday and after was the fallout of the unprovoked attack by the Ibilla youths.
While noting that Oju Community was not the aggressor but only reacted after being attacked on June 11, the leaders explained further that Oju Community is not opposed to the siting of UNAST on their land and or is anti-development.
“Rather, the misunderstanding resulted from the attachment of a hidden ‘Anyuwogbu’ agenda to the noble project of the university. Everybody in Igede knows the ancestral name where the university is being built to be ‘Oga-Oluwa’ and not ‘Anyuwogbu’, which is Professor Agbinya’s village.
“Our simple demand was and is to use the correct and true name of the place, Oga-Oluwa, which we consider as a neutral Igede identity for the place since the Ibilla people are not comfortable with Oju name.”
The Oju people accused the Ibilla people of driving away development from Oju township and its suburbs with their vaulting ambition to force Anyuwogbu down the throat of everybody as the name of the land hosting the Oju Local Government Area by all means, including waging war on different fronts.
“This can be clearly seen in the stagnation of the area called Barracks since the clashes over the 1991 Population Census. The clash between Ibilla and Ukpa youths a couple of years ago in which property worth millions of naira was destroyed at Oju township also resulted from Ibilla’s clandestine manipulation of the name of an Ukpa settlement at Oba Olori
“We reject the one-sided arrest and summary prosecution of 23 Oju youths as suspected fighters while no Ibilla person was arrested. It is not possible that in a situation where two groups are fighting, the security operatives will arrest all 23 of them from one side and not a single person from the other. The fact is that most of the boys were arrested in their homes. We demand their immediate release.
“We also wholeheartedly welcome the suggestion for setting up a Judicial Commission of enquiry on the crisis and staging of an Igede Peace Summit as suggested.
“We sincerely sympathize with all victims of the unfortunate incident and call on them and others to enlist as soldiers of truth, justice and peace in our land.
“We are ready to continue to live in peace with our neighbours and call on Government and all people of goodwill to prevail on our more illustrious Ibilla neighbours to refrain from oppressing, suppressing and attacking us,” the Oju people said in a statement.
Worried by the development, the Benue State government as waded into the crisis with a view to finding a lasting solution to the crisis in the area.
Benue State Governor Rev Fr Hyacinth Alia had on June 12 paid a visit to the warring communities for an on-the-spot assessment of the crisis where he addressed the people.
The Deputy Governor of the State, Barr Sam Ode, who led the delegation on behalf of the governor, said that the government will set up a commission of enquiry to ascertain the remote causes of the lingering crisis between Ibilla and Oju communities with a view to not just resolve the causes but also sanction perpetrators to serve as a deterrent to others.
Sam Ode told the Igede First Class chief, His Royal Highness Oga Ero, Adirahu Ny’Igede and his subjects during the visit that he was extremely sad that the Igede nation known for being industrious and peaceful is now immersed in continued crisis.
The Deputy Governor also disclosed that a summit will be held to deliberate on ways of ensuring lasting peace in Igede land by putting an end to the crisis permanently.
Ode said, “Governor Hyacinth Alia has asked me to convey his sympathy to the entire Igede nation particularly the people of Oju, over the sad event that erupted in your domain.
“I am very pained and have to conceal my emotions over this but I’m extremely very sad that it is happening here in Oju. It shouldn’t have happened. We have been hearing of crisis across the nation and we know the scares that comes with them. This will not be allowed to continue,” he said.
Speaking, His Royal Highness Chief Oga Ero, stated that boundaries have always been the challenges over the years in Igede land lamenting that perpetrators of the crisis over the years have never been brought to book.
He appreciated Government for visiting promptly and also subscribed to the idea of setting up a Judicial commission of enquiry by the state government.
The First Class Chief explained that the establishment of an institution by a son of the soil has also generated a lot of uprising over ownership of the site for the establishment of the University of Technology and Applied Science and was totally surprised that Igede people can take arms against each other.
“The kind of gunshots I heard yesterday morning was last heard when I was in operation in Plateau state,” he said.
During the visit, Daniel Ulegede and Chris Ijare second-class chiefs of Oju and Obi respectively, revealed that some elders were behind the crisis and until they are brought to book, there won’t be peace.
The proprietor of the University, Professor Johnson Agbinya, an Ibilla son, who described the crisis as uncalled for explained that the lives of Igede people are more precious than the name or siting of a University.
“The massive destruction I saw on our way in, at the market, is not necessary. We cannot substitute a University for lives. It is not worth it.
“We cannot substitute the university for the peace of Igede land, it’s not worth it and we also cannot substitute peace for the economic value and livelihood of Igede people.
Agbinya who condemned the crisis in totality, said “Go to the villages and market, nobody is there; shops are closed, women have run away, children are hiding, some are crying just because of a mere university, we need to be wiser than that.
“I do regret, deeply, for the loss of lives, loss of properties and the loss of peace,” he said and called on the government to quickly do their best to resolve the crisis.
Meanwhile, the Benue State Police Command said over 20 persons have been arrested in connection with the Oju crisis.
The Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO), SP Catherine Anene, disclosed this in a chat with our correspondent in Makurdi on Monday.
While responding to claims by leaders of Oju LGA only their sons were arrested while those of Ibilla were spared said, “I know that more than 20 persons were arrested but I don’t know which area they come from.”
Anene also disclosed that the suspects have been charged in court.