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By Princess Onyeoma Kama
Society only thrives in a functional relationship between government and the people. In every political clime, this relationship is usually anchored on mutual trust, understanding and the lawful conduct of citizens with the responsibility for the collective pursuit of peace and development. In line with this obligation, the Government of Ebonyi State since the days of Governor Ogbonna Nwifuru has worked relentlessly to ensure effective maintenance of law and order as he knows that peace is a factor of development.
Development can only flourish where peace exists. This is basically why achievements recorded by the governor to improve the well-being of the people of Ebonyi State through the provision of infrastructure have been possible.
On the other hand, where peace is absent, government and governance become distracted, and inevitably stall progress and development at the expense of survival of the masses who are at the receiving end.
The old land dispute between Edda and Amasiri at Okporojo Oso Edda, has over the years received attention from successive administrations in the state. On several occasions, the Ebonyi State Government intervened to broker peace. Multiple committees were equally constituted to investigate the matter, and the findings of such committees were consistent and unequivocal in asserting the truth that Okporojo Oso Edda, the disputed land, is one of the 72 villages in Edda clan that existed before Amasiri came to its present location.
Unfortunately, when certain elders choose to distort history, thrive on falsehood, or bury the truth because of their selfish interest, the inevitable outcome is usually crisis, insecurity and instability.
Through persistent falsification of historical facts, some elements within Amasiri have continued to mislead their people into believing that the entire Oso territory particularly Okporojo Village belongs to Amasiri hence the false claim which the people of Amasiri posited to the Peace Committee set up by the government to ensure amicable resolution. They lied that Amasiri shares common boundaries with Nkporo in Ohafia LGA of Abia State and Akaeze in Ivo LGA of Ebonyi State thereby erasing the entire Oso and Etiti Edda completely from the Ebonyi State map whereas the Wadington Report of 1930, commissioned by the colonial administration recognized Oso Edda with its traditional institutions as a community in Edda.
Unfortunately, the claim of right of ownership made by Amasiri over the disputed land is neither wittingly nor unwittingly backed with any legal documents whether real or imagined. In other words, the oral evidence adduced by the people of Amasiri as their instrument of claim is a figment of their imagination that lacks historical and legal foundation. This is perhaps why they prefer to resort to the use of force to intimidate either the people of Edda or the state government to accept a distorted history that obviously is not correct.
A cursory reflection of historical perspective shows that Oso Edda like Amasiri has two communities namely: Oso and Idima. Okporojo is one of the villages in Idima Autonomous Community that is recognized by the government. The two communities have boundaries with areas of jurisdiction. It is important to note that Okporojo has existed for generations without conflict with the people of Amasiri until in recent times. That implies that Okporojo village is not a recent settlement.
The entire Oso Edda has eight primary schools, two secondary schools, one General Hospital, proposed Federal School of Nursing which its temporary site has taken off with skeletal activities as well as the Edda North Development Centre, including multiple ongoing road projects by the state government that even cut across Okporojo village. Therefore, it is a tale of the absurd for Amasiri to claim that they either own Okporojo or do not have any boundary with Oso Edda.
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Oso Edda as a matter of fact predates the colonial era. This was why the colonial administration at that time recognized Oso Edda with defined boundaries as part of its administrative outlets. Therefore, the onus is on the State Government Peace Committee to examine these historical facts as traceable to colonial records that are readily available.
Moreover, both Edda and Amasiri observe the same egbela cultural festival which historically is known as egbela Edda and not egbela Amasiri. This indicates that while Amasiri practices the egbela rites, it was by extension adopted from Edda; establishing Edda’s prior existence in the region. Amasiri emerged later as migrant settlers who were accommodated within the region by Edda.
Today, however, the people of Amasiri have embarked on a dangerous path of territorial expansion that has erroneously led them to commit several heinous crimes and atrocities against Edda. The expansionism brought Amasiri into collision or conflict with not only Edda, but also Ibii, Akpoha, Afikpo, and Okposi; establishing a pattern of hostility towards neighbours. Rather than calling the rampaging youth to order, in these atrocities, the leadership of Amasiri failed to reconcile the fact that with the advent of colonial administration, came also legally recognised boundary demarcations, executed by the colonial masters based on the evidence before them. From the actions of the colonial administration in conjunction with the indigenous people, communities have legally defined boundaries and jurisdictions. As such, it is on record that the defunct Edda County Council created in 1954 by the colonial administration has undergone through several changes.
The Mbakwe administration in the then Imo State created the defunct Edda Local Government Council in 1982 which was later merged to Afikpo Local Government after the December 31st military coup of 1983 while the Babangida administration in September, 1991 created and designated the Local Government Council as Afikpo South LGA. But the Buhari administration in 2023 returned it to its original name, “Edda LGA”. Consequently, the present-day Edda Local Government Area comprises 11 communities and 72 villages. This is the LGA the people of Amasiri community has vowed to go into war with despite the fact that the people of the Edda clan has exhibited high level maturity by exercising restraint in the face of unprovoked onslaughts by Amasiri.
That is why Ebonyi State government took immediate lawful action against the excesses of Amasiri to serve as a lesson to its outrageous expansionism, having failed to heed to previous government decisions to restore peace between Edda and Amasiri which includes flagrant violation of the buffer zone created by the government and the Peace Committee’s efforts to adjust the boundary between the two parties.
Amasiri had in a past show of force on 11th July 2025, invaded Okporojo and Amata Oso Edda at midnight, killed scores of people and set ablaze many houses. This act made the government to take proactive measures to forestall future occurrences of the senseless and dastardly acts. Rather than conform itself to a civilized life of decorum, some elements in Amasiri became increasingly deviant, intransigent and rebellious thereby allowing themselves to be carried away in their territorial expansionist ambition, to violently attempt overrunning Oso Edda by way of annexing the community to Amasiri by force.
The recent killings, arson, and destruction of lives and property in Oso Edda represent a direct assault on the rule of law and a challenge to the government. The government as a responsible and responsive institution painstakingly tried to put in place adequate measures to stop further hostilities between the two parties and ensure public safety in line with its constitutional responsibility to safeguard lives and property. In fact, no sane government can fold its arms and watch such act of violence prevail. So, in defence of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, the Governor Nwifuru in exercise of his constitutional powers did what is necessary to restore law and order in the troubled communities. These actions are lawful, necessary and long overdue. Every step taken to contain the violence from Amasiri and make them to walk in the path of constitutional order and decency deserve commendation.
It won’t pay Amasiri to indulge in sentimentality, or hiring social media influencers and commentator to attack the governor for the deployment of law enforcement agents to ensure peace. Suffice to say that Amasiri must desist from further aggression against the people of Edda since the state government’s peace committee is already working assiduously to ensure as quickly as possible the delineation of an acceptable boundary between the parties in dispute.
• Princess Kama, Ph.D, writes from Abuja
