Ebonyi community protests killing of resident, others over disputed land

UMUOBOR people of Akaeze in the Ivo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State on Tuesday protestes against the killings of their community members in a disputed land between Umuobor and the Ogwor people, also located in Ivo Local Government.

The latest victim was a woman, who was killed while harvesting cassava, allegedly by suspected warlords.

The conflict over this fertile land, known as Elueke, has resulted in numerous deaths and the destruction of properties worth billions of naira.

Reports indicate that in 1991, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Umuobor Community regarding a dispute on the land. The judgment was expected to resolve the conflict; however, violence, injuries, and property destruction have continued unabated.

Since 2024, the situation has worsened, leading to increased killings and destruction, prompting Governor Francis Nwifuru to declare the area a buffer zone. He also established a Committee to seek lasting solutions to the dispute.

In February, four individuals were killed on the disputed land while harvesting crops. Three victims were from Umuobor, while the fourth, a woman, came from the Okue community in the local government area.

In response to the killings and destruction, members of the Umuobor community organised a protest on Tuesday. They carried placards with various messages and marched around the area for hours. The protesters, consisting of widows, youths, and women, claimed to have lost over 100 people in the land dispute, calling the situation unacceptable.

One participant, a pregnant woman named Felicia Ajali, expressed her anguish, stating that her husband and two children were killed on the land last month when she sent them to harvest food for the family.

“My husband and children were my strength, and now they have been killed. This land dispute has affected me greatly; I am the worst hit. I sent my husband and my two children to harvest cassava for me last month, and they were killed. Look at my condition as a pregnant woman—how can I survive this?

“I had three children, but they killed two of them. I now have only one child. The Ogwor people and the government should obey the Supreme Court judgment and leave our land for us,” she said.

Sylvanus Ibeh, one of the Community leaders, explained that the Ogwor people had previously taken them to Court, and Umuobor won the case from the High Court to the Supreme Court. He questioned why the Ogwor people continued to contest the land.

He decried that the Umuobor Community had suffered significant losses, including lives and valuable properties like schools, Churches, and homes, due to the ongoing crisis.