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•Lawmaker denies involvement
From Uchenna Inya, Abakaliki
Some survivors of a clash between men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps(NSCDC) and a team of policemen in Ebonyi State, have narrated how they escaped death during the incident which left a policeman dead with many people sustaining varying degree of injuries
The clash occurred last week in a mining pit in Amaeze community, Ishiagu in Ivo Local Government of the state.
Chukwu Ajah, who narrated how he escaped bullet wounds during the incident, blamed the clash and the eventual death of the man on what he called over zealousness and a gestapo style of operations displayed by the policemen .
According to him, their action was not only unprofessional, but lacked the barest minimum of standard operating procedures.
“We closed work in our site around 4:33 p.m on that fateful Wednesday and we wanted to go home ,but because that place is very dangerous because it is where Fulani herdsmen are killing our community members, we asked the Civil Defense Officers guarding the site to escort us out of the place.
“As we were returning, we saw three police vans fully loaded with armed policemen, numbering over 30. We were trying to give them a chance to pass, but we did not know that they came for us. At the end, they stopped our movement.
“ The most senior Civil Defense personnel among the five officers with us stopped and asked them what was the problem? They (the police team) asked him who he was? He replied that he is a Civil Defense Officer, guiding this company. They are under his control. If there was any problem, the police should let him know.They said that our director; Pastor Nathan Aniokwute ,who is the Director of our firm, Hephzibah and Beulah Concepts Ltd. is under arrest.
“So the Civil Defense Officer, John, said okay, give him invitation letter and he would bring him to the police. The police refused. He pleaded with them again and they refused. They now collected his (the NSCDC Officer’s) gun and removed the magazines.
“ He asked them to give him his magazine and that they should allow him bring the man (the Director) to them and that the man was under their custody as security personnel attached to the company, but they refused.
“Then, they started beating the NSCDC Officer and beat him seriously ;collected his gun and the magazine. They later threw away the gun and held the magazine. The NSCDC Officer said it was either they gave him the magazine or they would kill him. The police started shooting and in the process, they wanted to shoot the Civil Defense Officer, but the bullet hit the police officer, Shedrack and he died on the spot.
“At that point, they started beating the director and the Civil Defense Officer mercilessly. They collected the director’s car key, stripped him naked and started torturing him like a common criminal”, Ajah, who said there was no prior invitation or petition sent to the director or the company recounted, claiming that from their conducts, they may have been on an illegal or unauthorized operation”, he stated.”
He said they were shocked that the police waylaid them despite serving notices to all the security agencies in the state, including the Commissioner of Police, the DPO of Ivo police Division before they moved into the site, maintaining that they were all aware that the company was moving to the site to begin operations.
Ajah, blamed the genesis of the crisis in the mineral-rich Amaeze community in the area on the village Chairman, who he accused of collecting money from another miner, who owns a company, Palladum and Zottmann in other areas in Ishiagu and promised to give him the site which is legally owned by Hephzibah and Beulah that has an operating license.
His words:“Both the village Chairman and the Honourable member of the House of Representatives, Kama Nkemkanma ,said they don’t want the rightful owner of the license, Pastor Nathan.
“There, the Cadastral told the petitioners before Kama that consent of a quarry or mining company is irrevocable and that the man ( Nathan) has a valid license and therefore, they should allow the man carry out his operations.
“ Kama and his group refused. We heard he had called the oga of NSCDC that they should withdraw the officers in the site and you know that mining is under them”, he claimed.
Another victim, Onyekachi Nwaeni,who sustained gunshot injury in his foot during the incident and currently receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital, narrated how he was hit by a stray bullet during the encounter.
“We finished working in our mining site owned by a licensed miner on that day and we were already going home. We knew that there is a problem between the owner and this trouble is being sponsored by one man,Victor, who wants to take over the mining site from the licensed owner. The Federal Government had given that owner a license to mine there.
“But some people in the community went and ganged up with that Victor to take over that site by force through his own Company . We heard he gave bribes to make sure that some stakeholders from the community take the place back from the lawful owner and you know the government cannot give two persons license to mine there.
“And that rightful owner was now ready to start work on the site,but they doubted his capacity, saying he doesn’t even have the necessary equipments to mine there. Even the Commissioner for Solid Minerals had asked them to allow the licensed and rightful owner to do his business in the site but they refused.
Two days before the clash, the man surprised everybody by bringing in brand new equipments into the site to commence work. I think they must have given the police a wrong information about what happened and that was why they (police) blocked us, while we were on our way home alongside the Civil Defense Officers that were with us.
“They wanted to arrest some of us and the Civil Defense Officers that were with us. The officers (NSCDC), said there was no problem and that we should go together with them, including their Oga. It was then they (the policemen) started making trouble and shooting. That was how my brother and I ,were shot in the legs . I passed out after the gunshot, but I was rushed to the hospital.”
Reacting to the incident and the allegation against him, the member representing Ohaozara, Onicha and Ivo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Nkemkanma Kama, said the community rejected Hephzibah and Beulah company for the mining business and the company forced itself on the community which led to the crisis
“How did I caused the crisis in Amaeze, how? There was a meeting held by the community last Saturday over the mining issue and I pleaded with the community to allow Hephzibah and Beulah company to come in and they said they don’t want the company.
“At a point, we now said anyone ,who is supporting the company to operate in the community should queue up and it was under the rain. My brother, not even a single person, queued behind Nathan the owner of this Hephzibah and Beulah company. The videos of everything that day are there for everybody to see.
“We now asked the man, will you go and work in Sambisa forest and he said no and we asked him why do you want to go and work in a place where people don’t want you to come in?
“I told him that since it is like this, I want him to quickly tell me how much he has spent in this transaction to ensure that he doesn’t loss so that there would be peace. He refused this offer”, Kama said.
