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• Many injured, property, livestock looted over leadership tussle
• Group, senator bicker over arrest, detention
From Uchenna Inya, Abakaliki
The people of Ugboenyim, a border community between Ebonyi and Benue States are blessed by nature.
The Igbo-Izzi speaking community is by origin, Ebonyi but geographically, Benue.
They are under Ado Local Government Area, Benue State and in the southern senatorial zone of North Central Nigeria.
They are predominantly farmers; they are blessed with vast fertile land. They produce yam, cassava, maize, palm oil, groundnut, rice, vegetables, potatoes and other crops in large quantities.
People from Idoma, Benue State, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Kogi and Taraba, apart from Ebonyi State where they migrated from, buy food items from the community and even sell to other people because such products are relatively cheap in the area.
The people have a large market known as Nwedoga where they sell their agricultural products after harvest. They seldom transport the products outside the area because of the deplorable state of the roads in the area.
Since inception of the community, the roads in the area have not been constructed, making them one of the most neglected communities. A journey to the area which ordinarily should take an hour 30 minutes from Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital, takes over three hours.
The people have no electricity, hospital and other amenities that add value to life. They are very accommodating; and even harbour people displaced by communal wars in neighbouring states.
Ezza people in Effium, Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi displaced in the intractable war between them and their Effium neighbours, are taking refuge in Ugboenyim community.
In fact, several people from different parts of Ebonyi and Benue States have made the community their home and even become decision-makers there, thereby making the tiny community a heterogeneous settlement.
But amidst all these, the Ugboenyim people do not love themselves. They attack one another and destroy property at will. In 2006, they had a serious crisis which claimed lives. Over 25 houses were burnt in the fracas. They later agreed to live in peace after interventions by government at all levels. But peace has continued to be elusive there.
Recently, the people returned to the trenches with many sustaining grievous club, machete and gunshot injuries when the two warring factions clashed. Some members of the community have fled the area for fear of being arrested, prosecuted or killed following the latest skirmishes in the community.
Domestic animals, including goats, native cows and dogs were looted in the melee. Some of those injured were listed as Chukwuma Iboko, Bernard Ukpa and Nwofor Chukwuemeka.
They alleged that they were attacked by those who called themselves Plan B Club in the community. One Romanus Ishiali said to be the leader, allegedly masterminded the attack.
Some of the victims explained that they were tied up like common criminals and flogged with canes and machetes on the ground that they did not participate in communal work in the community when, according to them, there was no such work in the area.
One of those whose goats were looted in the crisis, Mrs Obaleze Eto, said her goat, which she was preparing to use and perform the burial rites of her late child, was forcefully taken by the group.
“Romanus came and collected a goat I wanted to use for the burial of my child and left without telling me my offence. I waited for him to bring it back to me but he refused. I bought another goat for the burial rites. Up till now, that goat has not been returned to me,” she lamented.
Another woman, Justina Nwebonyi said she was in her house when a group led by one Monday Okeye allegedly invaded the place and collected her two goats – a pregnant goat and a male. She said when she sought to know her offence, they threatened to kill her
She alleged: “They also carried my 20 plastic chairs, wheelbarrows and attempted to carry my maize grinding machine. It was at this point that I told them they couldn’t carry my machine. They later carried the machine and all the things they collected in our house and left. They sold the goats and those things.
“They came back some days later and asked of my husband, but my husband was not around. They said they were looking for him to beat him up. They were beating people with all manner of weapons, including machete, rod and cane that day.
“They were with fuel that day when they came to our house and they said they would burn my husband. It was somebody that called my husband not to come home that day. The fuel they carried to our house that day was used by soldiers who were contacted over their actions. The soldiers put the fuel in their Hilux van and left after arresting some of them.
When Saturday Sun visited the community, the village head, Chief Omogo Ijere, said that members of the Plan B Club in the area were terrorizing the people, attacking, maiming them and looting their property, which forced him to report their actions to the police in Igumali, Benue State.
“When I was coming back after reporting the matter, I was called by one of my children and warned not to return to our place, that these Plan B Club people had blocked our community and were very armed,” he stated.
But one of the purported leaders of the Plan B Club, accused of masterminding the attacks, Romanus Ishiali, denied all the allegations against him.
He told Saturday Sun that it was rather the Chief Omogo Ijere’s faction that looted people’s property and livestock, and forcefully harvested other people’s yams and other crops in the community.
He accused the Deputy Senate Chief Whip, Onyekachi Nwebonyi, of sponsoring the Omogo faction. He alleged that he and some others have been sacked from the community.
Ishiali alleged that the Ebonyi senator has been offering him gifts including cash to be his loyalist but he has been rejecting them. He claimed to have also declined N2million and motorcycle gifts from the politician because he did not like his way of life.
“Our lives are under threat; we have been marked for elimination. They have been looking for me to kill me.
“Senator Nwebonyi has been arresting our people and imprisoning them in Benue State courts just because we refused to follow him. He gave me monetary offers and motorcycle and I rejected it because I don’t want those things and that is the cause of ordering my removal as the youth leader of our community.
“But my people want me to continue to lead them. The senator has vowed that I will not have rest in our community and he is not from this community. It is his grandfather that is from here. Nwebonyi is not representing us in the National Assembly, he is representing Ebonyi North, Senator Abba Moro is the one representing us.
“So, why should Nwebonyi be looking into the affairs of our community? Why is he causing trouble by forcing me to be following him when I don’t want to follow him? Is it a must that I must follow him? He sewed uniforms and gave to some members of our community to be harassing and intimidating us in the name of local vigilantes, whereas they are not.
“What this people do is, when they come to your house, they will collect your goat, cow, fowl and other animals by force, kill them and eat and if you talk, you will be dealt with.
“There was a pregnant pig they collected from someone. They killed the pig and removed the piglets in its womb and ate it. Each time they feel like eating meat, they will grab any domestic animal they see, kill the animal and eat. They have finished all the livestock in our community.
“Some of us can’t enter our village again and that is why you are seeing us here in Abakaliki, because they said that they will kill us if we enter the village. We want governors of Ebonyi and Benue States to come to our aid before this thing causes an inter-state war,” he alleged.
But in his reaction, Senator Nwebonyi accused Ishiali and members of his Plan B group of stoking crises in the community, alleging that they have committed enough crime in the community and the police were after them.
“They committed a lot of crime; maiming some members of the community and stealing their properties and the police are after them.
“They begged me to suppress the matter but I told them that what they did was evil, that even my cousin who is said to be among them should be charged to court. So, they got the information and started media war which I know is being sponsored by some of my political friends.
“So, they are trying to divert attention here while police were looking for them there. That place is Ado Local Government Area, Benue State. The Chairman of the LGA is looking for them and that’s why they are running helter-skelter.
“They are trying to tarnish my image because of my progress as a vibrant young man. They are envious of my rising profile and I have insisted that they must face the law because I don’t condone evil.
“My cousin is among those arrested and prosecuted for what they did in the community. He is in the prison as I speak to you and those behind the barbaric act in the community must be brought to book. I can’t cover evil because evil is evil,” the senator declared.
