Amasiri Clan Raises The Alarm Over State-Backed Military Repression, Occupation of Land, Unlawful Detention

By Henry Umoru THE Amasiri Clan of Afikpo Local Government Area, Ebonyi State, has raised the alarm over what it described as state-backed military repression, occupation of ancestral land, and unlawful detention of community leaders. The Clan has alleged that the Ebonyi State Government was deploying the Nigerian military against a peaceful civilian population on the basis of an unverified allegation, resulting in mass arrests, displacement of residents, destruction of homes, economic paralysis and the suspension of civil life across Amasiri communities. Addressing journalists in Abuja on the development, the clan Spokesperson Princess Joy Idam, who described the operation as collective punishment that violates the Nigerian Constitution and international human rights standards, said that what started as an allegation linking Amasiri to a murder in neighbouring Oso, Edda Local Government Area, was never subjected to investigation or judicial process, adding, " No suspects were identified and no fair hearing was granted, yet the entire community was subjected to military action. "The Amasiri leadership condemned the murder and expressed sympathy with the affected family but rejected what it called the criminalisation of an entire people without evidence. "Following directives attributed to the Ebonyi State Government, all schools in Amasiri were shut down, markets and churches were closed, farming and trading were halted, and residents were forced to flee their homes. Amasiri indigenes in Abakaliki were allegedly ordered to leave the city, while civil servants of Amasiri origin reportedly received verbal termination notices. Students in tertiary institutions were also said to have been directed to identify themselves by origin, a development the clan described as discriminatory and unconstitutional. "The Community was removed from the list of development centres, detached from Afikpo Local Government Area and placed under a joint administrative arrangement involving four LGAs, effectively stripping the clan of political and administrative identity. They recalled a public statement credited to the Governor suggesting that within weeks there would be no one left in the community, a remark they described as threatening and dehumanising. "Boundary tensions between Amasiri and Oso had long been resolved through a government-gazetted White Paper in 2003, reaffirmed by both communities in 2023, and further strengthened by a peace agreement signed in December 2025 to allow immediate demarcation." Speaking further, the Spokesperson said that despite Amasiri’s compliance, the clan accused government ministries of repeatedly stalling implementation. In January 2026, they said, Amasiri citizens even offered to fund the demarcation exercise after learning of its cost, yet no action followed. The situation worsened on 30 January 2026, the clan said, when the military carried out mass arrests in Amasiri communities. On the same day, the Ebonyi State Government allegedly dissolved the entire political and traditional leadership of Amasiri, including traditional rulers, town union executives and village heads, without investigation or court order. Idam said, "As of the press conference, two Ezeogos and the Coordinator of the Amasiri Development Centre were said to have remained in detention for over a week. The clan contrasted the swift militarisation of Amasiri with what it described as official silence over repeated attacks on Amasiri citizens in the past year, including reported abductions and killings along the Afikpo–Okigwe axis and the kidnapping of Amasiri farmers and residents, none of which led to arrests or prosecutions. This, they argued, points to selective justice and unequal protection under the law. "On the disputed land known as Okporo-Ụjo, the clan maintained that it is ancestral Amasiri land, that Oso settlers historically arrived as hunters and tenants who were accommodated on the outskirts of Amasiri territory and that the current crisis reflects an attempt by former tenants to dispossess their hosts through state power and force. "The Amasiri Clan calls on the National Security Adviser, the Chief of Defence Staff, the Chief of Army Staff, the National Human Rights Commission, Amnesty International and the international community to intervene urgently. "We demand for the immediate withdrawal of military forces, an independent investigation into killings, arrests and property destruction, restoration of schools and economic life, reversal of collective sanctions and the release of detained leaders. Amasiri people are law-abiding citizens and not enemies of the state."