Ebonyi Communities At War, As Over 100 Killed, Farms, Houses Worth Several Millions Destroyed
From Omaka OKOH, Abakaliki
The age-long communal clash between Amasiri and Oso-Edda communities in Afikpo North and Edda local government areas of Ebonyi state respectively have claimed over 100 persons, an authoritative source has disclosed.
The source further disclosed that most of the people allegedly killed at the ongoing internecine war include young men, women, farmers and passers-by
Recall that the two warring communities have been engaged in fratricidal war for decades over a parcel of lands, leading to wanton killings and destruction of farms, crops ang houses.
Investigations showed that successive government has tried to find a lasting solution to no avail. Various stakeholders from both communities have signed different MoUs but cannot be implemented, leading the outbreak of series of attacks and reprisals.
And in what appeared as climax , the Amasiri people allegedly invaded Oso on January 29, 2026 and hacked five persons down, beheaded them and paraded their dismembered bodies on social.media.
Gov. Nwifuru imposes curfew, sacks political appointees
Piqued by the killing of four persons at Okporojọr village in Oso Edda in Edda local government area allegedly by Amasiri people, Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State imposed a curfew in Amasiri community, shut schools, both private and public, and directed that all teachers and tutors be posted to other schools and other communities other than Amasiri communities with immediate effect.
In addition, Nwifuru sacked all government appointees from Management Committee members to Commissioners from Amasiri . All Traditional Rulers are dethroned with their certificates of recognition invalidated. All Community Development Union Presidents and Village Heads are also hereby removed with immediate effect.
The governor, who announced this after the emergency meeting of the Ebonyi State Security Council held at governor's office Centenary City Abakaliki, said the curfew will run from 2 p.m. to 10 a.m. every day till sanity returns.
He said: "The government also agreed on the advice of the council and dethroned the two traditional rulers. The letters of their dethronement will be issued to them today.
"The council also directed that all the development union executive and the village heads, women leaders, youth leaders, peer groups in all the communities or any other organization in all the communities and hamlets be dissolved immediately.
"Government agreed with the council's directive and dissolved all the Executives of the Development Union, the village heads, women leaders, women groups, youth leaders and youth groups, youth organization, women organization, peer group organization and any other organization in the Amasiri clan.
"The council also directed that the local government chairman of Afikpo local government, Ivo local government, Ohaozara local government and Onicha local government, should take over the activities of government in Amasiri community with immediate effect.
"The council also directed that security agencies should swing into action and immediately bring the culprits to book and recovers the slain heads.
"The council also advised the government of Ebonyi state to send an executive bill to the house of assembly for the repeal of the local government and development center law that created Amasiri development center and remove Amasiri development center from the development centers of Ebonyi state.
"The government of Ebonyi state agreed on the directive of the council and a bill for a law to repeal the local government and development center law of Ebonyi state of 2015 has been prepared to send to the house of assembly to delete Amasiri Development Center from the Development Centers in Ebonyi state.
"The council also directed that all government amenities in Amasiri including schools, both private and public should as a matter of urgency close down and all teachers and tutors be posted to other schools and other communities other than Amasiri communities with immediate effects.
"Accordingly, all government and private schools in Amasiri Development Center and in Amasiri clan were closed down and all teachers are to be posted to other schools in other communities. .
" The council also directed the government to impose a curfew in Amasiri with immediate effects and all markets, shops, businesses, quarries, banks should shut down from 2 p.m. to 10 a.m. every day.
"The government agreed with the directive of the council to impose a curfew in Amasiri from 2 p.m. to 10 a.m. every day.
"The council also directed the law enforcement agencies to recover the beheaded heads of the victims of Okporojo crisis at all costs. The council also directed the law enforcement agency to implement the council's resolution with immediate effects" he stated.
However, as part of the directive, the Ebonyi state government has commenced the process of removing Amasiri as one of the 64 Development Centres in the State following incessant crises in the area.
The Executive bill has been sent to the State House of Assembly to repeal the Ebonyi State Local Government and Development Centre Law of 2015 and cancel the creation of Amasiri Development.
Shallow graves, mutilated bodies uncovered
Security agents said they have discovered multiple graves of mutilated bodies of those allegedly killed during boundary war between Amasiri community and Okporojọ Oso Edda community in Ebonyi State.
The Acting Deputy Director Army Public Relations of 82 Division Nigerian Army, Lt. Colonel Olabisi Olalekan Ayeni who disclosed this while reacting to group allegations of militarization of Amasiri community said they were there to carry out curfew declared by the governor and protect lives and property and not harass and intimidate the residents.
According to him, "Credible intelligence has further revealed multiple sites where victims were buried, including adults and children. The discovery of these graves underscores the scale of the crimes committed and the necessity of a robust security presence to dismantle criminal networks and prevent further violence.
"Troops were deployed as a direct response to the gruesome killings and beheadings of four individuals in Okporojo village, Edda LGA, and subsequent discoveries of shallow graves containing mutilated bodies in Amasiri. These atrocities demanded urgent intervention to restore peace, protect innocent lives, and bring perpetrators to justice.
"The attention of the Headquarters, 82 Division Nigerian Army (NA), has been drawn to some videos currently circulating on social media, featuring journalists condemning the deployment of troops in Amasiri following the killing of innocent citizens in Amasiri–Edda community, Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
"The intervention of the NA and other security agencies in Amasiri is not an invasion as characterised by these videos. This narrative is misleading and does not reflect the true purpose of the operation.
"The Ebonyi State Government, in line with its constitutional responsibility to safeguard lives and property, therefore imposed a curfew and temporarily closed schools in Amasiri to prevent escalation and ensure public safety.
"The security agencies were deployed to enforce the curfew, ensure uninterrupted investigations and security operations, protect medical teams, and manage the humanitarian implications of the crisis.
"The joint teams comprising the Nigeran Army, Nigerian Police, Department of State Security, and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps have been conducting intelligence-driven patrols, cordon-and-search operations, and forensic exhumations in the affected areas.
"It is important to stress that the deployment of troops is not targeted at the people of Amasiri but at criminal elements exploiting communal tensions to perpetrate heinous crimes. The operation is intelligence-led, professional, and conducted in partnership with local leadership to ensure transparency and accountability.
"The Nigerian Army and sister agencies remain committed to protecting all citizens without bias. The intervention will continue until peace is fully restored, perpetrators are apprehended and justice is served" Ayeni stated.
However, the Ebonyi State Police Command have arrested coordinator, Mr. Anya Baron-Ogbonnia, and two monarchs,,Onyaidam Bassey and Godfrey Oko-Obia, in connection with the mayhem at Okporojor community.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Joshua Ukandu, who confirmed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abakaliki, said that the arrest followed a joint operation involving the Army, the Directorate of Security Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).
The police spokesperson said that 10 people were earlier arrested in connection with the incident.
Council chairmen dialogue with Amasiri Women
As part of efforts to find a lasting solution to the Amasiri - Okporojo Edda crisis, the chairmen Afikpo local government area, Timothy Nwanchi, led his colleagues from Ivo, Emmanuel Ajah Ogbonnia and Onicha Local Government Area, Ikechukwu Ogbofia to Amasiri held a meeting with the Osunkpa and other women at the Orie Market Square.
The Chairmen, who are now the Administrators of Amasiri Community following the dissolution of structures in the area, addressed the women on the need for them to assist the state government achieve normalcy in the area and to stop blaming government for its actions.
According to them, the actions were not taken to punish the people but to address and forestall further killings and breakdown of law and order.
They appealed to them to join hands with government to address the matter and refrain from confronting the government or its agents.
Describing their actions as affront to government, they appealed to the women not to carry out any further protests as such could exacerbate the situation.
They debunked the position of the women who may be arguing that government hates them and enjoined them to reach out to their husbands and children to address the situation.
They told them that the Governor had a compassionate heart and would listen to their grievances if their complaints were not direct attacks or condemnation of government's well intended actions.
The women were told that there were more civilised ways of getting their feelings across to government and requested them to articulate their reservations for onward passage to government.
Edda community alleges killings of over 75 persons
The Nzuko Edda General Assembly, an umbrella body of Edda in Edda local government area of Ebonyi state, has disclosed that the community has lost over 75 persons in the past three years in the crisis between the people of Amasiri and Oso Edda in Afikpo Local Government Area and Edda Local Government Area of the state.
The community leaders who revealed this following the recent beheading of four persons in Okporojo, Oso Edda by suspected warlords for Amasiri community.
In a communiqué issued after the meeting, the traditional ruler of Ebunwana Edda, Charles Azuenya, lamented the persistent attacks on villages in Idima autonomous community, including Okporojo, Akanto, Ozara-Oko-Ugwu, Nde-Oko and Amaiyima, by suspected warlords.
He alleged that over 75 indigenes of Edda communities have been killed in the past three years, with dozens of homes burnt and entire villages displaced.
“Our people can no longer remain silent while lives, homes, and dignity are being systematically destroyed. The situation has reached a critical point
“At least four indigenes were brutally murdered in their homes, while three were reportedly beheaded. This level of cruelty is unacceptable and must not go unanswered,” he stated.
The monarch acknowledged Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru’s efforts in promoting peace but accused the Amasiri community of disregarding government directives.
The Assembly appealed to the state government to deploy security personnel, rebuild destroyed communities, resettle displaced residents and ensure perpetrators are brought to justice.
“The recent invasion of Okporojo village on 29th January, 2026, resulting in further killings, abductions, and the complete destruction of Okporojo village, is a clear and further escalation of hostilities that cannot go unanswered.
“At least four indigenes of Okporojo and Ogiri were brutally killed in their homes with three of them beheaded by Amasiri people. Amasiri, again, rejoiced home with the heads of three sons of Edda, perhaps, as trophies they have won”.
" Their defiance not only undermines the authority of government but also places the safety and security of Edda Clan, especially Edda villages in Idima autonomous community, in jeopardy”Azuenya lamented.
Amasiri clan raises the alarm over military repression, occupation of land
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."
