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Multiple crises over land ownership in Ebonyi State leave nearly 200 people dead

It is now calm in FOUR communities in Ebonyi State, after several days of mayhem that left no fewer than 150 people dead and properties worth millions of  Naira destroyed. In the past few weeks, Ezillo in Ishienu council; Edukwuachi Agbaja in Izzi and Ndieche- Ishieke in Ebonyi local government areas of the state have been engulfed in communal clashes. Out of the three clashes, the most devastating was the Ezillo-Ezza fighting which claimed the lives of about 100 people in all.

The conflict involving Ezillo and Ezza communities took place on the eve of January 1. Gunmen from Ezza community numbering about 20, had allegedly sneaked into Ezillo in the middle of the night of December 31, 2011, and brutally murdered people. Those killed included children between the ages of three and five, aged men and women and youths, as well as more than 30 donkeys.

In all, 86 people were confirmed dead, while about 700 people were declared missing. A few days after, 14 more dead bodies were recovered from different locations in the area. The dead bodies were said to have been found inside remote parts of the communities. It was alleged that many innocent people met their death as the hoodlums were trying to escape through the bush paths linking other parts of the state.

Eze Chima Onyibe, traditional ruler of Ezillo, claimed that close to 800 persons from his area were still missing five weeks after the raid by armed men. Onyibe also lost one of his sons, four vehicles and property worth millions of naira in the mayhem.  Five weeks after the carnage, there was fear among the residents that there might be a resurgence of the bloodbath, especially now that there were insinuations that the government had uncovered a plot by some traditional rulers in the state to further fuel the crisis for selfish reasons.

Martin Elechi, governor of the state, had a few weeks ago, accused traditional rulers and politicians from Ezza of insincerity in their attitude to the protracted Ezza/Ezillo crisis. “Within us, we know we’re not being sincere in our words. Time has come for us to tell ourselves the truth. I make bold to say that there is so much insincerity in what we tell ourselves. Many people know what is happening and will never reveal it. We met at the local government council with local leaders and members of the House of Assembly trying to find the root causes of the crisis”, Elechi said.

Elechi, made the allegation when traditional rulers from Ebonyi central senatorial district, led by Paulinus Igwe Nwagu, a senator, paid him a condolence visit. The governor decried the tongue-in-cheek display of Ezza politicians and traditional rulers and said that what he wanted was remedial action to assist the bereaved families to bury their dead and take care of the survivors in hospitals. He regretted that despite the additional plots of land allotted to the Ezza community, access roads, water and electricity, the crisis still rages on.  Elechi explained that his government was spending a lot of money daily for the upkeep of 1,000 police officers stationed in the embattled area.

The December 31, 2011 massacre of more than100 persons by invaders was not a surprise. It was like a disaster waiting to happen.  In the last three years, no fewer than 500 people have lost their lives in the communal war between Ezillo and Ezza communities. 

Ikechukwu Eze, an eyewitness, said what happened on that fateful day was the worst experience his community ever had in the crisis. He said gunmen invaded the community around 5 a.m. in a vehicle, organised themselves into groups, and first opened fire on the Ezillo police station while those that stationed themselves at the Afor Ezillo market opened fire on the people. Eze said they were still asleep when the gunmen attacked them. On hearing the gunshots, most of the people ran out from their homes to take refuge inside the bushes but unknown to them, their attackers had surrounded the bushes.

Jacob Okoro, another eyewitness who lost all the members of his family, said it all started with sporadic gunshots. “We were still sleeping when we heard gunshots and we saw people running and screaming.”

Many innocent motorists and travellers who had followed the Abakaliki-Enugu Expressway which cuts through Ezillo community were also killed with their bodies allegedly burnt and dumped in the forest.

The operation was said to have lasted about 45 minutes. The gunmen numbering more than 20 persons also killed a divisional crime officer. The killing was described as callous, barbaric and heartless. Mobile police from Rivers, Cross River and Akwa Ibom have been deployed to the affected communities to ensure adequate security.

The present problem started sometime between 1928 and 1930, when the Ezillo community had communal dispute with Ngbo, its neighbouring community in the present Ohaukwu local government area of the state. Because of the existing cordial relationship between the two communities, Ezillo people decided to lay complaint before Ezza, generally regarded as the oldest of all Abakaliki clans. The Ezza allegedly made peace between the two warring communities by accepting to live in its border with the Ngbo. But the Ezza version of the story, however, states that they were invited to fight and drive the Ngbo backwards and live on the land. The people of Ezza believe that having driven Ngbo people out of the disputed area, they decided to live in the present day disputed areas of Ishimkpume, Amalinze, Umuezikoha, among other hamlets in dispute.

However, the two communities of Ezza and Ezillo started living together after the defeat of Ngbo and equally built a new settlement called Ezza- Ezillo. Ezza people are nomadic in nature and live in most places in Wawa land in Enugu and Ebonyi states.

 But as time went on, problems ensued and the Ezillo sought for Ezza relocation back to Eguechara, their original place before 1928. The matter was taken to an Abakaliki colonial customary court in 1955, and the court ruled in favour of Ezillo, mandating the Ezza to move backwards to Eguechara. The Ezza people appealed the matter before one Gunning, an Abakaliki colonial district officer, who affirmed the judgement of the customary court.

But Ezza people refused to leave the land. On May 10, 2008, hostilities broke out between the two communities. Those who spoke to Newswatch said the latest communal war was a carry over of the 2008 conflict. On May 10, 2008 a little misunderstanding broke out between an Ezillo indigene and an Ezza man over where to erect a commercial pay phone booth.  The disagreement led to the pulling down of the booth and from there to burning of motorcycles that belonged to both parties.

The Ebonyi State government later set up a panel with a mandate to recommend appropriate solution to the matter. The government white paper of October 2, 2008, directed the Ezza to vacate a substantial portion of the land in dispute to an enlarged location called Eguecharra. The Ezza people protested that they were short-changed and swore never to relocate to the new land provided by the government.

Just as relative peace was returning to Ezillo and Ezza communities, hell was let loose on Edukwuachi Agbaja community in Izzi local government area of the state on January 17, 2012.  After three days of turmoil, three people lost their lives, 200 others displaced, 20 houses destroyed and property worth millions of naira destroyed.

John Nwagu, a native of the community, said the crisis started on January 17, 2012, when the community attempted to take over a piece of land belonging to Nwaobegu family for the building of a community secondary school, without following due process. When the family objected to the move to take over the land, pandemonium became the order of the day as youths numbering more than 100 invaded the family in search of members of the family for total elimination.

Moses Nwaobegu, a member of the family, said the action of the youths was uncalled for because there was a community land which could be used for such purpose.  

It was the same scenario at Ndieche, Ishieke in Ebonyi local government area of the state where at least one person was confirmed dead, while three others were seriously injured and property worth several millions of naira destroyed during a communal clash a few weeks ago.   What started as a personality clash following the expiration of the tenure of the leadership of Ndieche village later degenerated into a communal clash. The tenure of Charley Nwaiboko, the village head, elapsed last December and the youths of the area requested that election should be conducted for the emergence of another village head but Nwaiboko’s supporters rebuffed the move, insisting that he should remain the village head. The youths and other stakeholders refused to recognise Nwaiboko and went ahead to elect a new village head which did not go down well with the Nwaiboko’s faction.  In the ensuing melee, the youth invaded four different compounds, destroyed properties worth millions of naira. In the process, one person died while several people received various degrees of machete cuts. 

Marcillina Uburu, co-ordinator, Ebonyi Development Centre, said the level of destruction was unprecedented.