A full scale war is brewing
between the people of
Adadama Community in Abi
Local government area of
Cross River State and Ndiagu
Amagu Community in Ikwo Local Government Area of
Ebonyi State over land
disputes. Before now, about
35 people have been killed,
including a Ph.D student and a
Youth Corps member beheaded recently by
militants who invaded the
community. As at press time, there were
reports that the Amagus were
allegedly planning another
attack on the Adadama
community, causing mass
exodus from the community. The Amagu and Adadama
communities have been
embroiled in a land dispute
for more than 50 years. Since
the recent hostilities in the
area broke out, hundreds of lives have been lost while
properties worth billions of
Naira have been lost. The Secretary of the
Traditional Rulers' council of
Adadama, Chief James Ekoro
Edu who spoke with Saturday
Vanguard said the community
had petitioned the Presidency, urging President Jonathan
including security agencies to
come to their aid to avert
another looming bloodshed. We got to know of their plans
and we have written a letter
to President Jonathan and of
course, we want the whole
world to know what is going
on," he stated. Speaking to Saturday
Vanguard, Chief Ekoro said;
"they have chased us out of
our farmland, they have
overpowered us with their
numerical strength and wealth. But we will not
succumb to this gross
injustice" According to him, "The
security men including
soldiers mounted in the Buka
zone have been withdrawn
exposing us to our enemies." In a letter to President
Jonathan signed by His Royal
Highness, Eval Fidelis Ikor
Addu, Chief James Ekoro Edu
and other chiefs in the
community, it reads: "On behalf of the traditional
rulers' council of Adadama,
we write to draw your
attention Your Excellency to
the killing of innocent,
harmless and voiceless men, women and children by
trigger-hungry hired
mercenaries from Ikwo Local
Government Area (LGA) of
Ebonyi State of Nigeria, which
started Monday, January 14 - 15, and on Saturday, January
19, 2013 respectively. There
was a repeat of the ugly
incident in February 14th,
March 16thand March 18th,
when Chief Edu Nteh's wife, late Mrs. Catherine Edu Nteh
was whisked from her
farmland, and again on the
2nd of September, 2013. A
total of 16 dead bodies were
recovered and five women kidnapped till date." "In fact, the September killing
actually compelled His
Excellency, the Governor of
Cross River State, Sen. (Dr.)
Liyel Imoke CON to visit
Adadama Community, September 18th, 2013.
Perhaps, touched by what he
saw and heard on his visit to
Adadama Community,
Governor Imoke promised our
people a peaceful and lasting solution to the crisis.
Unfortunately, this is exactly
14 months after his visit and
nothing has happened up till
this very moment. What we
hear rather is that the Federal Government is bringing a
Police Academy to be sited at
the disputed area. "Interestingly, the Amagus' of
Ikwo Local Government Area
in Ebonyi State again
beheaded in cold blood the
only daughter of our
traditional ruler and a serving Youth Corps member, Princess
Emame Fidelis I. Addu on May
1st this year. The killing of the
Corps member (Princess) led
to the withdrawal of all
serving Youth Corps members from Adadama community.
And not only that, the
Amagus' and their
mercenaries are now using
Guerrilla tactics to kill
innocent and harmless Adadama women as they go
to harvest cassava and other
crops in their farms. Your
Excellency, between May and
October, 2014; three women
have been beheaded; the last two being Mrs Bassey Ajayi
Edu and Mrs Grace Emmanuel
Lebo on the 10th of October. Apart from the alleged
orchestrated attack, Chief
Ekoro also stated that there
were lingering claims that
some powerful individuals in
Ebonyi have vowed to either annex Adadama Community
land or use all resources at
their disposal to exterminate
the people of Adadama
Community. He said: "The threat seems to
be working for them going by
what their people are doing.
The fact that the Amagus
went and cultivated crops in
the portion of land that government marked as a 'No
Go Area' with a standing
order that nobody should do
anything on it is a pointer to
the fact that some powerful
individuals are behind this invasion," he said. We are a peace loving people
and we have cohabited with
the Okpitomos of Ikwo for
over 2000 years without a
glitch, until the Amagus came
from nowhere to reside where they are today.
Interestingly, they attempted
their mischief in 2001 by
exhuming the beacon stone
laid by G. G. Shute along the
old South Eastern region in 1920 on the flank they are
living today". On what the Governor Liyel
Imoke is doing about the
issue, Ekoro said the
government seems lame and
inactive because of her
peaceful and gentle approach to issues. He stated that the story of the
oil rich Bakassi peninsular
might repeat itself, if
something was not done to
bring peace and normalcy to
the area. "We crave your special
indulgence to intervene
expeditiously because
innocent people are often the
victims. We hope that the
sonorous cries of our people who with Dane guns and
cutlasses have to confront
hired mercenaries from Ikwo
in Ebonyi State armed with
sophisticated weapons will
prompt you into quick action. We need to also bring to your
notice that the several
hundreds of innocent women,
children are displaced,
currently facing the challenge
of food and materials," Chief Ekoro cried.https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=827492350630286&id=358973344148858&refid=7&_ft_=qid.6098305180613111535%3Amf_story_key.2797319382699233629&__tn__=%2As

The crux of the matter is one
state's desire to take the land
of a bordering state. The
boundary between Ébonyi and
Cross river state is clearly
demarcated by water except in Ebonyi north where there is
land boundary. Bt cross riverine is always in
war with a neerby
communities, communal war is
rampant in cross river,etc,
ebom and ebiji akara in abi
local government. Oga Jona please intervene now.