Several houses have reportedly been torched following a misunderstanding arising from leadership tussle and land dispute in Amuzu village, Igbeagu Community in Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
Apart from the houses, several properties worth millions of naira were also destroyed in the wake of the crisis.
Jacinta Onyiyechi, one of the victims of the incident, lamented that her certificates and other vital documents were destroyed when hoodlums allegedly hired by one of the factions, set her father’s house ablaze.
But, a source from the area, who preferred not to be named, accused one Maurice Nkwuda, husband of the Coordinator of Igbeagu Development Centre of allegedly masterminding the crisis.
The source traced the genesis of the dispute to 2016 when some members of the community led by Nkwuda allegedly plotted to hand over a mineral rich land in the community to a prospective miner, but were resisted.
According to the source, around that period, the tenure of the Community Executives ended, but they refused to hand over or conduct another election, because Nkwuda was allegedly backing them.
The source said: “They wanted to remain in power and use their power to force the community to hand over the land to them and their preferred mining company.
“This led to a court case which lingered till March this year when the court gave judgement against them and ordered them to hand over to a new elected leadership but they still refused to hand over.”
It was further gathered that the villagers wrote to the state government and the government ordered them to hand over to the newly elected leadership.
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“Having lost the leadership of the village which is the only way for them group to gain control of the land, they resorted to importation of gunmen to attack and intimidate the villagers.
“They hired gunmen who are at the border with Cross River State to attack us and burn down our houses”, the source said.
“They first came three days ago (Wednesday) and started shooting in the air. People ran away and they packed people’s properties and damaged some buildings.
“The community complained to the state Commissioner for Border Peace and Internal Security, Stanley Okoro Emegha, who called for a meeting and sent police there.
“But, on Thursday night after the police left, they came back and burnt down many houses and properties.”
When Nkwuda was contacted by Sunday Independent, he refused to speak on the issue.
His wife and coordinator of Igbeagu Development Centre, Mrs. Roseline Nkwuda, did not pick her calls.
The State Police Relations Officer (PPRO), Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Loveth Odah, confirmed the incident, adding that Mrs. Nkwuda denied the involvement of her husband in the attacks.
She said the information available to the police was that the crisis was as a result of a tussle over the position village head of the community.
“I have contacted the Coordinator of the Development Centre. It was alleged that her husband was working with the former village head of the community.
“She denied the alleged involvement of her husband in the attack. She also promised to come to the station on Monday.”
DSP Odah said the Command had drafted some policemen to the area to stop further breakdown of laws and orders.
“The matter has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Abakaliki and we have commenced investigation,” the PPRO added.
