Aside a pending suit, Ezza-Ezillo community of Ebonyi state drags soldiers, deployed to maintain peace between her and her Ezillo kinsmen, to the Presidency for intimidation, serial killings and rape of their womenfolk. (Picture shows Governor Martin Elechi of Ebonyi state)
The story of Clement Nwode Alichi, headmaster of Ntezi Primary School, Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, is chilling enough! Nwode Alichi lost all his property in the raging Ezillo, Ezza-Ezillo communal crisis.
It would be recalled that the twin communities of Ezza-Ezillo and Ezillo had engaged in bloody wars since May 2008 following a rift between an Ezillo youth and his Ezza-Ezillo kinsman over the citing of a business centre in the Ezaa-Ezillo territory. A day after, the feud developed into a full blown war, with both sides losing lives and property to the mayhem.
In particular, Nwode Alichi, an Ezza man, in one fell swoop, lost a J5 Bus, two private cars, a 24 room bungalow, cows, well stocked yam barn, fowls and goats, as well as over 150 bags of rice. Nwode Alichi, ultimately, had to scamper out of the community for his dear life without a pin as property.
But the tragedy of Nwode Alichi pales into insignificance with the alleged murder of his only son, Ezennaya, a graduate of Ikwo College of Education, Ebonyi State, in Abakiliki town, by a mercenary soldier. Nwode Alichi identified his son’s killer as a soldier, called Tasunda. Tasunda is said to serve at Nkwu Agu Military Cantonment in Abakiliki. Ezennaya, it was gathered, was pointed out to Tasunda for murder by some conspiring indigenes of the rival Ezillo community, including James Abah, Thomas Abalishi and Peter Elom among others.
According to Headmaster Alichi, “When Ezennaya (my only son) returned, one of the Ezillo people called the soldier, Tasunda, on phone telling him that the boy they were looking for was back. Tasunda came with other soldiers, met my son, and murdered him in cold blood. They shot him severally on the legs and stomach in the presence of his wife…These murderers carried the corpse of my son away, and I have never seen it till now. I wanted to go and report the matter to the police, but I was warned never to come out; that if they see me they will kill me. They, also, sent some soldiers to look for me at Ntezi where I am teaching. They want to kill me as they killed my only son. I am now in hiding”.
As it were, Nwode Alichi’s heart-rending account forms part of a petition sent by Ezza-Ezillos on October 14, 2009 to the Presidency concerning gross violations of their fundamental rights.
The petition, signed on behalf of the Ezza-Ezillos by their counsel, Uche Wisdom Durueke (Esq) of Durueke’s Law Firm, Owerri, Imo state, claimed that the people of Ezillo, because of their connections and involvements in the government of Chief Martin Nwanchor Elechi, have been influencing the peace keeping soldiers to unleash all sorts of onslaughts against the Ezzas. Apart from evicting them from their ancestral homes, the soldiers allegedly deny the Ezza-Ezillos freedom of movement and association contrary to their Ezillo counterparts.
Particularly, the petition stated that Joseph Nwaorie, an Ezza man, was arrested in the Ntezi area of Ebonyi state by the peace-keeping soldiers at a road block. On the discovery that Nwaorie came from Ezza-Ezillo, the soldiers, the petition alleged, subjected him to merciless torture, and compelled him to make a telephone call to one of his relations, feigning that he was involved in an accident and quickly needed assistance.
Within a short time, two relations of Nwaorie, Moses Njoku and Clement Nwankwo arrived at the scene in a vehicle to possibly convey him (Nwaorie) to hospital. But the peace-keeping soldiers reportedly swiftly arrested the duo of Njoku and Nwankwo amidst torture.
According to the petition, Nwaorie was shot on his leg, and denied medical treatment, even when the leg was about to decay, oozing out odious smell. Njoku, on his own part, was unluckier, as he allegedly died from the army torture four days back in a military cell at Nkwu Agu Military Cantonment. Njoku was said to have died as a result of severe and multiple injuries inflicted on him by the soldiers.
“We are told that till date, no account has been given by the Army of his (Njoku)’s corpse. The other two persons are still in military detention and their fate is uncertain. The citizens committed no offence other than that they are natives of Ezza-Ezillo”, Durueke’s petition to the Presidency affirmed.
Instances of torture and dehumanization of the human persons of the Ezza-Ezillos seem endless! The petition recounts that, last year, August, in Ndiegwu Okpoto, a community located on the Abakiliki-Enugu Expressway, three other natives of Ezza-Ezillo were arrested and detained by the peace keeping soldiers at a road block. The three kinsmen included Stephen Nwanga, a sick elderly man, and the duo of Ndubuisi Agwu and Sunday Nweke who were taking sick Nwanga to his wives in a nearby local government council for comfort and medication.
Curiously, the pathetic condition of sick Elder Nwanga did not sway the soldiers who allegedly pounced on the trio. While they shot Agwu on the leg, Nweke sustained varied degrees of injuries arising from his torture. And apart from assisting in conveying the sickly Nwanga to his wives, Nweke, an herbalist, was, also, going to treat another sick person, one Ifeanyi Chukwu. But this sordid incident brought Chukwu’s medical mission to a halt, as the injured Chukwu, subsequently, died for lack of medical attention. And till date, the trio of sick Nwanga, Agwu and Nweke still languish in the military detention, waiting to die anytime death beckons.
Still, there is a case of an old native doctor, Nweze Alo, who was, recently, arrested at Ode Ntezi by the soldiers and hauled into detention. Alo, an Ezza but not of Ezza-Ezillo extraction, was invited by an Ngbo woman to help her make juju to stop thieves from stealing her property. Alo who is still in military detention, was arrested simply because the youths there accused him of being an Ezza man.
Importantly, women and children of Ezza-Ezillo extraction are not left out of these alleged human rights violations by peace-keeping soldiers.
“The women have been victims of brazen assault by the military but are very shy to come out in the open to make complaints”, stated the community’s petition.
The petition lamented that for more than a year now, Ezza Ezillo children have been refused education, having been earlier forced out of their ancestral homes, a development which the Ezza-Ezillos perceive as Ezillo’s strategy to halt their progress in life.
Part of the complaints of the petition is that both the government of Chief Martin Elechi and the Ezillos look down on and treat them as second class citizens.
‘Presently, the Ezillo people are facing human resource depletion and poverty…a subtle program of annihilation through economic strangulation. It is disheartening and criminal that Ebonyi State Government has treated our clients so inhumanly. We are alarmed that a State Government in Nigeria can pursue a course that is obviously one of crime against humanity in this 21st century. The question is: Why is the Ebonyi State Government not pursuing a course of promoting reconciliation, peace and co-existence?’ the petition quizzed.
Elechi’s government, in collaboration with the Army, allegedly left a standing order for the arrest and ruthless handling of any Ezza-Ezillo person seen around their community. The petition listed persons already declared wanted, dead or alive, by the Army to include Chinedu Onele, Uche Dada, Okoro Agwu, Simon Nworie and Ezennaya Nwode (who has already been slain by the soldiers in Abakiliki).
In fact, the experience of the Ezza-Ezillos appears worse than incarceration, as they cannot, at the moment, go in and out of their Ezza-Ezillo ancestral homes, while their properties are not spared either.
The petition, further, recounted how Emmanuel Ovu, an indigene of the area, was, on June 18 last year, pursued by soldiers for apparently attempting to leave the Ezza-Ezillo community on his motorcycle. As Ovu ran for his life, he abandoned the motorcycle, which the soldiers confiscated.
Ovu’s was, as a matter of fact, the fourth motorcycle seized by the soldiers, and fears abound that all the motorbikes have disappeared. The peace-keeping soldiers were, also, said to have impounded vehicles belonging to some Ezza-Ezillo indigenes, including Clement Nwankwo’s Nissan bus. The farmlands and livestock have, similarly, been vandalized by the soldiers.
‘It may interest you to learn that while the Peace Initiative led by the Speaker of Ebonyi State House of Assembly was still on course on 11 October, 2009, women from Ezza-Ezillo were waylaid on their way to Ntezi community market, a market outside Ezillo, and their wares were destroyed. We were informed that a complaint was lodged to the said peace committee on account of the incident. The soldiers admitted the incident and alleged that they acted on the instruction of Chairman of Ishielu Local Government Area, one Barrister Peter Onwa, who purportedly claimed that the women were found within where he had declared a ‘Buffer Zone’, the petition narrated.
Apart from destruction of their wares, livestock and economic trees, Insider Weekly was informed that the peace-keeping soldiers have, often-times, sexually assaulted women of the community. And one of the rape victims, Mrs. Mary Ugoama, accused the soldiers of, in addition, laying ambush for them inside their farmlands, forcing them to uproot their farm crops and, subsequently, destroying the crops.
Indeed, the contention of Ezza-Ezillo petition is that, going by the declaration of Minimum Standards and the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, Ezza-Ezillo women, children, physically challenged and elderly are entitled to be catered for, but this has, unfortunately, not been so. Thus many Ezza-Ezillo indigenes are currently said to be facing ‘severe hunger and diseases’ as a result of their situation.
The Ezza-Ezillos have, for the umpteenth time, through their counsel, Uche Durueke, called on the federal government to step into the matter, with a view to, ultimately, reinstating them to their ancestral homes and addressing all the injustices being unleashed on them.
The Ezzas, also, called for the setting up of a panel of inquiry to investigate their claims of torture and extra-judicial killings, the molestation of their women, especially, the incident of June 18 last year, as well as alleged sale of motorcycles of Ezza-Ezillos impounded by the Army.
Equally, the petition asked the federal government to prevail on the Nkwu Agu Military Cantonment to give account of the whereabouts of the Ezza-Ezillos being detained by the Army without trial. The Ezza-Ezillo detainees are named as Joseph Nwaorie, Clement Nwankwo and Stephen Nwanga, Ndubuisi Agwu, Sunday Nweke and Nwaeze Alo, an Ezza but not of Ezza-Ezillo extraction)
Among the appeals of the people is that the Nkwu Agu Military Cantonment be made to account for the whereabouts of the corpses of their sons, Ezennaya Nwode and Moses Njoku respectively.
The Ezzas, also, demanded that they, being predominantly farmers and depend on the land for livelihood, should be allowed to go to their farms to work. The petition insisted that the destruction of Ezza-Ezillo farms, even by soldiers, for no reason whatsoever, be halted.
Of note is that the resistance of the Ezza-Ezillos to vacate their ancestral homes is traced to their traditional history. It was learnt that the Ezza-Ezillos, over 70 years ago, came into their present abode, called Umuezeoka-Ezza and Umuezokoha-Ezza, on the invitation of the then war-torn Ezillo people.
Part of the information is that in that era of inter-tribal warfare and quest for territorial expansion, the Ezillos had invited the Ezzas to assist them ward off their powerful Ngbo and Okpoto neighbors who were on the verge of annihilating them, with a view to taking over their lands and bringing them under total control. On the discovery that the magnitude of the war would not require the participation of the entire Ezza stock, located in Onueke, present Ezza South council area, the people unanimously sent their Umuezeoka and Umuezekoha-Ezza kinsmen to help the Ezillos subdue their Ngbo and Okpoto invaders.
But the involvement of the Ezzas in Ezillo, Ngbo-Okpoto wars, of course, followed an agreement to the effect that after the war, the Ezza warriors would not return back to Onueke, but would unobtrusively settle in their present areas of abode, that is, the Ebonyi River side of Abakiliki. And true to the agreement, the Ezza mercenaries, after the war, with the full consent of the Ezillos, settled in the agreed area and, subsequently, acted as a shield to the Ezzillos over their Ngbo and Okpoto assailants. The duo had, since then, cohabited until the hostilities broke out between them.
Sad enough, the intervention of Chief Martin Elechi government in the blood-chilling conflicts aggravated the already worsening situation between the two sister communities. Elechi government had, in an infamous public broadcast on October 2 of 2008, directed the Ezza-Ezillo people to vacate their ancestral homes and farmlands, and move into a completely barren location called ‘Egu Echara’. The Ezzas, with a population of over 12,000, complained that this ‘Egu Echara’ piece of land was not only small, but presently occupied by the Ezillo and Ngbo people.
“In Egu Echara, there are no houses for re-settlement, no schools for our children, no hospital or clinic for our health needs, no play grounds for our children, no market for us to buy and sell our wares, no churches to worship our God, no portable water, no access roads and so on”, the Ezza-Ezillos lamented.
It would be recalled that Governor Elechi’s pronouncement followed a report of a peace committee, headed by Eze Chibueze Agbo, traditional ruler of Ezzamgbo community. The membership of Eze Agbo committee, set up to inquire into the crisis, included, among others, Ambassador Icha Ituma, Dr. Offia Nwali, Chief Chris Nwankwo, Rev. Fr. John Odey, Eze John Oge, Chief James Alobu, Eze Martin Nweke, Chief Okoro Alochi, Chief Nwafor Echie and Chief Francis Eze Igwe among others.
Incessantly harassed by both the peace-keeping soldiers and Elechi government to vacate their abodes and farmlands for the forest, Ezza-Ezillos, in April last year, sought redress in the law court.
The suit, filed before an Abakiliki High Court by their counsel, Uche Durueke, has Governor Elechi, the state’s Commissioner for Works and Transport, Surveyor-General and Eze Agbo as defendants. The plaintiffs, suing on behalf of themselves and Umuezoka-Ezza and Umuezokoha-Ezza of Ezza-Ezillo in Ishielu Local Government Area, included Chief Paul Ogbule, James Nwali, Augustine Egbe and Jonathan Omena.
The suit, numbered HAB21/2009, among other things, sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining Governor Elechi by himself, his commissioners, assistants, officers, servants, workmen, agents, representatives or successor from relocating the Ezzas or moving the Ezzas out of their present abodes and farmlands to ‘Egu Echara’ or anywhere else as contained in the infamous broadcast of October 2 last year.
The suit, equally, sought the court’s declaration that the governor’s directive to the effect that the Ezza-Ezillos should relocate from their ancestral homes and farmlands is wrong, unfair, inhuman, unjust, unlawful, illegal and, therefore, null and void. Part of the prayers of the Ezza-Ezillos include a declaration that the report of Eze Agbo’s Peace Committee in respect of the crisis is not binding in law, and that the recommendations were made without giving them equal opportunity to present their case before the committee like their Ezillo neighbors.
Another relief being sought by the community is an order of perpetual injunction restraining Elechi’s government from asking or insisting on implementing their planned eviction.
Understandably, the constitution of Eze Agbo’s Peace Committee would never have gone down well with the Ezza-Ezillo people, who contended that the outcome of the committee’s assignment would, naturally, tilt against them.
The contention of the people was that Eze Agbo, being an Ngbo man, would not be objective enough as to dispense justice in the crisis. Similarly, Ambassador Icha Ituma, himself an Ngbo element, and, indeed, many other members of the Peace Committee, allegedly, had sympathies for the Ezillos against the Ezza-Ezillos. The Ngbos are believed to be sworn enemies of Ezza-Ezillos because of the latter’s acceptance to help the Ezillos in defeating them in warfare decades ago.
Giving credence to their fears, the Ezza-Ezillos queried the rationale behind the Peace Committee’s hurried submission of its interim report to Governor Elechi even when presentations before it had not been concluded.
For instance, the Ezza-Ezillos nominated a six-man delegation to represent them before the Peace Committee, but the delegates, it was alleged, were intimidated and harassed by Ezillo youths, such that four of them discontinued their attendance at the committee’s peace and reconciliation sittings. The two other delegates who struggled to make presentations reportedly did so at the risk of losing their lives, and, as such, they could not effectively represent their people in the meetings.
It was as a result of alleged intimidation of her delegates that Ezza-Ezillo community petitioned the Peace Committee and Elechi’s government to shift the venue from Ishielu council headquarters to Abakiliki, at least, considered as a neutral place. But both Governor Elechi and Eze Agbo’s Peace Committee reportedly snubbed the request, and went ahead with the Ishielu venue.
To add insult to the injury of the Ezzas, one of them, Sylvanus Nwonu, was reportedly arrested and detained in the presence of Governor Elechi and the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Barrister Augustine Nwankwoegu, on the day and place of the inauguration of Eze Agbo’s Peace Committee.
Even at that, the Ezzas, in the suit, contend that the majority of the five sub-committees of Eze Agbo’s Peace Committee never recommended their re-location, adding that neither Elechi government nor the committee itself made any attempt to include women or hear their voices in the so-called peace process. The suit argued that this non-involvement of women was a big flaw, as women are known for their neutrality in issues of conflict of this nature.
Aside the suit and current petition to the presidency, the harassed Ezza-Ezillo community have, also, petitioned other relevant quarters, including the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 82 Division, Nigeria Armed Forces Headquarters, Enugu and Speaker of Ebonyi State House of Assembly. They, also, variously, copied the petitions to the President of the Senate, Speaker, Federal House of Representatives, as well as the Human Rights Commission. All eyes have been on the national assembly and the other authorities complained to, to intervene in the feud that is unsettling the ‘Salt State’ of Ebonyi.
While the Ezza-Ezillos look up to appropriate authorities for intervention to avert their impending pogrom, the legal battle between them and Elechi government may commence soon.
Meanwhile, the office of the GOC, 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Enugu, reacted to the avalanche of allegations against her peace-keeping soldiers.
A Press Release, dated 16 December, 2009 and signed by Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa, Assistant Director of Public Relations, maintained that ‘some unscrupulous elements and mischief makers’ in the area, disappointed with the peace keeping efforts of the soldiers, have been busy fanning the embers of war and disunity among the people.
These unscrupulous elements and mischief makers are said to be politicians who, it was learnt, are plotting their strategies towards the 2011 general elections. The politicians allegedly continue to instigate their people (Ezza-Ezillos) in order to create a situation of anarchy and instability in the state wherein Elechi government would be branded a lame luck, and a state of emergency imposed on the state for their own personal political benefits.
“Let me use this opportunity to appeal to unscrupulous elements and mischief makers not to drag a noble and dignified institution like the Nigerian Army into the communal/political disputes. The 82 Division under the leadership of Major-General MD Isah would remain forever neutral and apolitical in the discharge of its assigned roles”, Musa assured.
The statement described the allegation of extra-judicial killings and molestations of Ezza Women as baseless and unfounded.
“At the time, there has never been a recorded case or an established case of molestation of women or any other person for that matter by the troops on legitimate patriotic duty in the areas mentioned”, the statement stated.
The soldiers, according to the press release, were deployed to Ezza-Ezillo communities purely in aid of civil authority to ensure maintenance and sustenance of peace, law and order between the warring communities.
Stressing that the Nigerian Army has no interest whatsoever beyond making peace in the crisis, the Army authority added, ‘Let it be on record that the formal procedure for troops’ deployment in aid of civil authority in troubled areas is dully followed. Let it be on record that nobody was killed by the soldiers on duty in Ezza-Ezillo communities, ours is just to maintain and sustain peace in the troubled area’.
The Army, equally, denied the allegation of ejecting the Ezzas from their farmlands, saying, ‘the allegation is equally unfounded. It is the handiwork of mischief makers as there was an agreement voluntarily accepted and signed by both parties that the Ezzas were to accept a parcel of land allocated to them by the state government”.
Among personalities who reportedly witnessed the signing of the agreement were elders of the two communities, Chairman of Ishielu Local Government Area and other officials of his council, the GOC, 82 Division, as well as representatives from the state government.
The Press Release emphasized that throughout the period of the on-going crisis, the GOC 82 Division has been playing a fatherly role, non-partisan and mediator, adding: ‘He (the GOC) has consistently remained open and accessible to any stake-holder in the matter including both government officials and private individuals. Thus it is surprising that some highly placed individuals with interest in the crisis could accuse the soldiers on legitimate, patriotic duty of being partisan in the conflict in spite of the Division’s efforts to contain the crisis and return peace and security to the area.
But will peace ever return between the two sister communities of Ezillo and Ezza-Ezillo?
Ike Ekweremadu, Deputy Senate President, exploits his chummy relationship with Acting President Goodluck Jonathan to hijack the 2011 PDP governorship ticket in Enugu state from the second-term-seeking Governor Sullivan Chime.
e 2011 on the platform of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is now an open secret. Ekweremadu is from Mpu community in Aninri Local Government Area of Enugu state, and he represents Enugu West Senatorial District at the national assembly. (Picture is that Governor Chime; Right is Senator Ike Ekweremadu)
