Genesis of crisis

Orient Weekend, however gathered that the cause of the bloody conflict was blamed on an alleged breach of agreement on lease of rice farmland in the area. According to a source who does not want his name in print, the failure of federal government to allocate rice farmlands around the irrigation project was the cause of the friction between the two communities considered as most peaceful neighbours in the local government. “The cause of the fight was a farm land and it was that irrigation project that Federal Government built in 1983. The project eroded all boundaries between Omor, Umumbo, Umuerum and Ifite Ogwari. Because there was no demarcation showing land owned by the communities, when the federal government started allocating lands to individual farmers, many of them ended up having farms inside their neighbours. For instance, I may come from Omor and will be given plot A that fall inside Umumbo area while Umumbo person may be given plot B and Ifite Ogwari indigene may be given Plot C and so on.
Since the irrigation was built in 1985, this has been the practice of farming. Everyone will cultivate their own and at the end of the year, we will go and pay. According to the source, trouble started when in 2019 Umumbo people started claiming that Omor people were working on their land and want them expelled. “Omor people said no that if they want to do anything, they should sue the federal government and if they win, instead of Omor people paying money to the River Basin Authority, they will now pay it to them (Umumbo). Their brother, Dr. Okonkwo and the then house of assembly member & former Federal house of representative member, Barr. G. O. Onyenwife were there. They condemned their people for their acts; they begged Omor people since those people (Umumbo) had cultivated rice already, they should allow them so that after they harvested it, they will pay them for plough and plot. They agreed.It was also agreed that Umumbo people should not come to the farm land again in the next farming season after harvesting their rice. “To our surprise, Umumbo did not pay for plough nor do they pay for plot and they went ahead to cultivate the land again. So, our people accosted them and that’s how the fight started”, the source added.
On the reason for the aggression from Umumbo indigenes, the source said, “What brought about this bravado is their belief that they have more of native doctors and charms than their neighbours. An average Umumbo person is a native doctor and they believe in their charms.

Anambra Reports Crime Watch

ATTEMPTS TO CLEANSE OMOR: MACABRE DANCE BY UMUMBO COMMUNITY

Omor and Umumbo people of Ayamelum broke into communal war over over plots of rice farm. The clash between Umumbo and Omor towns in Ayamelum local government area of Anambra state is a result of Umumbo's intentional provocation and violation of agreement between the two towns. The two communities have been the most related and friendly towns in the entire Ayamelum local government till this clash. The clash that surfaced on the 5th day of May 2020 started by farming season of 2019. There are also other 'minor' provocative actions from Umumbo unleashed on some parts of Omor from 5 years ago till today, where they meet people in their farms and use guns to order them to leave the plots of rice and never return. This is classified as minor because Omor elders, in their infinite wisdom and burning desire for peace, were able to endure, manage the situations and settled them amicably.

Federal government came to Ayamelum local government several decades in the past and took hectares of land belonging to Omor, Umumbo and Umerum. The land was developed into irrigation and drainage for rice farming.

On ceding the land to the government, the communities handed over their right of ownership to the government. While developing the land, all local boundaries were destroyed by the federal government. After development, the lands were shared among individual farmers who applied to the government for rice production. With this development, Omor, Umerum and Umumbo people farm in their various assigned plots irrespective of town or community of origin.

This continued till last year when Umumbo people encroached into plots of rice assigned to Omor people. They said that Omor farmers should leave their land for them. To this development, Omor people went to Umumbo to meet with the elders of the land and their stakeholders to seek for peace. Meanwhile the plots have been cultivated and rice growing in all of them. In order to settle the differences, an agreement was reached between the two parties before Justice Okonkwo and Hon. Gabriel Onyenwife (Africa) both from Umumbo.

The agreement was that Umumbo people have cultivated rice already, therefore that Omor people will have patient so that they will harvest the rice and leave the plots for those who they were assigned to by the FG. It was also reached that Umumbo people will balance Omor people all the expenses they have incurred in land preparation. To allow peace reign, Omor agreed and went home peacefully.

In respect of this agreement, (Document is available) Omor people went home and waited for those who cultivated their plots of rice to comply with this agreement.

Rather than stick to the agreement, as Omor people left, Umumbo youths went ahead to task their town union branches across Nigeria and diaspora for cash which they used to procure sophisticated firearms to be used to wipe off Omor from the surface of the earth (The voice note also confirmed this). One wonders when a disagreement between brothers, which was settled before the elders and notable men from the communities, now turns to war requiring procurement of arms & ammunition. Till now, no compliance and no payment was made by Umumbo people. They hope a d capitalize on the ground that their brother is a judge coupled with the fact that their indigens work in all courts in the state. They can use their indigens in court to finish Omor up even if their charms and fetish powers fail them.
What happened again was that Umumbo people had earlier this year cultivated the same plots of rice again contrary to the agreement reached with them last year. Their target was to rush online to tell stories of how Omor people intimidate them with their population. When confronted, they started beating people up in the farm and destroying people's knapsack sprayers.

The crisis that errupted on 5th May was as a result of regular beating of farmers by Umumbo people, kidnapping of Omor people and blunt refusal to release them when begged to do so. After the morning crises, Umumbo people went to Afor market in their town and handpicked all Omor traders who were there for their trading business and also moved to other parts of the farm where Omor famers were cultivating yam and cassava and kidnapped about five persons. According to an escapee, "many are still with their predators in the town". The total number of unseen, unfounded and unrecovered people of Omor is almost 20 as of today.

To secure peace, Omor people asked the Umumbo people through their town union President and youth leader to plead with their youths to let go of the captives.

Meanwhile, Umumbo people captured by Omor people were released to their people through police and all other available security operators in the locality thinking that that action will make Umumbo to release those innocent farmers under their custody. This plea could not save the situation as the umumbo youth found it very difficult to release those captives. They rather boasted about how they have hacked those they captured to death and sacrificed them to their charms and idols. Isn't this terrible?

Anybody that knew Ayamelum will agree with our views that any missing man in the locality will at least answer calls and find his way home within, at worst, 2 days. Till today, the captives are yet to be seen or heard from. Where could they have been? This was the provocation that led Omor people to go in search of their loved ones in the farm.

Fortunately, two fresh corpses of two able bodied young men who were not among the part of Omor that were having issues with Umumbo were recovered. Others are yet to be found. A voice note from an Umumbo man testifying this fact is available. As it stands today, our men numbering over 10 people captured by Umumbo youths in the farm have not been recovered.

If Umumbo needs to reclaim their land, there are modalities for that: Sue the federal government, win them and secure judgement and then come to claim their land if they can establish their boundary with Omor people. Let Umumbo people tell the world that they have a court order asking them to chase Omor people out of the FG alloted plots of land in any part of the farm.

Once it is not of the Lord, they shall gather but they will definitely disperse; God continues to protect Omor community against enemies.

Having gone through this write up, who then is at fault?

This crisis is as result of envy over what God alone can do. It is not the fault of Omor people to be densely populated. This is the only issue. Owing to Umumbo's belief, power and strength in native medicines and charms, they cannot assert the strength of their fetish powers unless they engage Omor people in an open war. Let's not talk of Omor people killed in clandestine form by Umumbo people through fetish powers. Omor people endured these callous & unconscionable primitive acts & still lived in peace with them.

Omor is central of Ayamelum having boundaries with 5 towns out of the 7 in Ayamelum, and these neighbouring towns are constantly trying to choke Omor out their land, and resistance by Omor had made these towns hate the people Omor and would employ any form false propaganda to dent the image of the peaceful Omor town. The only sin Omor committed for such hatred is refusing to be intimidated by other neighbouring towns of Ayamelum.