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Bloodbath in Ebonyi
From GODDY OSUJI, Abakaliki
The Ebonyi State governor, Chief Martin Elechi has expressed surprise at the wanton destruction of lives and property at Ezillo-Ezza area of Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State by armed militants. Elechi, who visited the war-torn area last Monday saw firsthand how innocent travellers on Enugu-Abakaliki expressway became victims of the brutal attack by the militants.
The area which has suffered many casualties as a result of the communal crisis has known no peace since the outbreak of hostilities between the Ezillo indigenes and the aborigines of Ezza. Over 200 lives have been wasted in the communal war.
The renewed hostility which took a different dimension a fortnight ago has seen no fewer than 100 lives being wasted all of whom were innocent travellers on Enugu-Abakaliki federal highway.
Many are worried that since the crisis started, it was only last Monday that Governor Elechi deemed it wise to visit the area engulfed in the bloody war.
Elechi who expressed surprise at the level of wanton destruction of life and property along the road also inspected the Ezillo Water Scheme, a multi-billion naira facility located in the area, which the militants had attempted to blow up.
No fewer than five corpses, including that of two policemen, a pregnant woman and a little girl were earlier removed from the roadside by officials of the Ebonyi State Environmental Protection Agency (ENSEPA).
A total of 15 vehicles, including five Hilux vans were either riddled with bullets or completely burnt even as the entire scene was still oozing out acrid stench of human decay.
To further strengthen the security of the area, a large number of regular and mobile policemen were to check the activities of the militants, who now operate in a guerrilla fashion, from unleashing further havoc along the road.
Traffic movement on the road which was totally stopped because of the attack on travellers along the road resumed gradually with heavy duty trucks while commercial drivers still afraid to ply the road now go through Okigwe-Afikpo-Abakaliki road, a journey that usually takes one hour now taking about four hours.
The governor, who was dazed at the destruction, described the invasion as a war on the entire state in the guise of communal crisis, assured that the militants and hoodlums will never win the war.
"This is an attack by unspecified persons. They are now fighting all Ebonyi State, that is what it is; to have attempted to destroy the water that we all drink, to have killed and maimed innocent passengers on a federal highway, to have killed people whose identities are unknown, who were simply going about their businesses; we can't say this is land dispute any more. It is criminality in its highest form…. As far as we are concerned, they shall never and can never win this war, they are wasting their time and they shall have a date with the history of retributive justice," Elechi said.
He commended the military men guarding the water scheme and the police personnel along the road for their gallantry, saying that their labour shall never go in vain.
The newly posted Commissioner of Police, Mr Emmanuel Dipo Ayeni, who was in the governor's entourage later confirmed to newsmen that two policemen were killed by the militants aside other civilian casualties.
Ayeni stated that the police were ready to match force with force with the militants even as he intends to adopt problem solving approach in resolving the crisis that has lasted for more than two years, adding that he had already invited stakeholders in the state for a meeting towards using dialogue in solving the problem.
Source: The Sun, 3rd March 2010.
Elechi Visits Ebonyi Communal Clash Scene
By Dennis Agbo
ABAKALIKI—FOUR days after the seizure of the Ezza-Ezillo disputed land by suspected hired militants, who over powered both the military and police, Governor Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State, yesterday visited the war front, where no fewer than five policemen were reportedly killed by the militants.
Governor Elechi in company of the newly posted Commissioner of Police, drove round the communities of Ezillo, promising, however, to deal with the situation and stop the lawlessness.
He said that those perpetrating the war were criminals that must be dealt with.
The corpses that were said to be littered on the war field were, however, not seen, as they may have been cleared by the special mobile policemen that were drafted to the place. Road blocks have also returned to the war spots on the Enugu-Abakaliki highway while skeletal vehicular movements was noticed at the spot that was deserted since last week Friday, when the militants took control of the spot, killing innocent commuters and some policemen.
The communal war last Friday assumed a frightening dimension as men of the Nigerian Police Force were overran by the militants that confronted them, burnt two police vans and smashed police armoured tanks that were recently acquired by the Ebonyi State government.
Also the Minister for Works, Housing and Urban Development, Alhaji Hassan Lawal, who was bailed to visit the state could not get into the state as the Enugu-Abakaliki Road was overtaken by the militants. Police eyewitness was quoted as saying that the militants turned into skeleton, making it difficult to capture them.
Movement between Abakalik and Enugu is now frustrating as commuters use the bush paths of Agba-Ezzagu to Nkanu areas of Enugu State. Others have opted to ply from Enugu to Okigwe-Afikpo and back to Abakaliki.
Source: Vanguard, 22nd Feb 2010.
Communal Crisis: Corpses Litter Ebonyi Road
By KENNETH OFOMA, Abakaliki
At least seven persons including a policeman were killed on Friday as the war assumed a frightening dimension. Human bodies reportedly litter the Enugu-Abakaliki Express road at the battle spot.
Gun men believed to be hired militants burnt more than five Hilux vans and other vehicles along the road while so many commercial buses and big trucks were riddled with bullets.
The attack on the vehicles caused multiple accidents involving trucks in an attempt to escape. A driver of a tipper lorry that collided with another truck was trapped in his vehicle crying for help that never came.
Another woman with a baby strapped to her back was equally squeezed in-between two collided trucks. She was trapped while her baby died while still strapped to her back.
The gunmen engaged the police deployed to the area in a gun dwell destroying two armoured personnel carriers (APC) and killing one of the policemen in the process. The windscreen of one of the armourd vehicles was shattered, forcing the policemen to retreat.
The Enugu-Abakaliki Express road remained impassable for more than two days now. Commuters are forced to use bus parts including Ntezi-Agba- Ezama-Nkanu routes, but those who make the trip vow never to try it again due to horrible nature of the road.
Other travelers use the Abakaliki-Afikpo-Okigwe road to burst out at Enugu-Portharcourt Express road before proceeding to Enugu, which triples the distance and transport fare.
A planned visit to Ebonyi State by the Minister of Works, Housing and Urban Development, Alhaji Hassan Lawal, was aborted on Friday following the blockade of Enugu-Abakaliki Express.
A convoy of vehicles dispatched by Ebonyi State government and led by the Commissioner for Works and Transport, Dr. Paul Okorie, to go and pick the minister at Enugu returned to Abakaliki as they could not pass the war zone.
The Police Public Relations Officer of Ebonyi State Police Command, Mr. Chris Anyanwu, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), confirmed the attack on the police, but could not confirm the number of casualties.
Five persons were similarly killed while several others sustained bullet wounds the previous weekend in the war zone.
Most of the victims are believed to be travelers plying the Enugu-Abakaliki Express road, a trans-African highway that stretches from Benin Republic through Lagos Enugu, Ebonyi to Cross River and Cameroon.
The communal crisis which erupted since May 10, 2008 over erection of GSM phone boot in a local market have pitched the two communities against the other with shooting going on intermittently since then.
However, the shooting intensified in the last two weeks with innocent travelers along the route being the worst hit as soldiers deployed to the flash points are no longer seen at any of the road blocks on the highway.
Source: Daily Champion, 21st Feb 2010.
Ebonyi Communities Deny Anti-Elechi Charges
From Leo Sobechi, Abakaliki
THREE communities under the aegis of Ngbo, Izhia and Effium Consultative Assembly, (NIECA) in Ohuakwu Local Council of Ebonyi State have dissociated themselves from the allegation by one of their leading members, Mr. Nwanne Ominyi, that the state Governor, Martin Elechi plans to remove some facilities and social amenities, including the School of Nursing, from their area.
The group said the charges against the government were not the position of the stakeholders of NIECA.
The communities denied that they were behind the claim by Ominyi that the state government was making moves to relocate the permanent sites of Ebonyi State University and the School of Health Technology, both of which are in Ohaukwu Local Council, pointing out that the fact that the new sites were not indicated by the accusers showed that "it is baseless and lacking in proof."
But Ominyi, former Special Assistant to Governor Sam Egwu, said he stands by the interview he granted to some reporters on the state of affairs in Ebonyi State, alleging that Elechi was pursuing a policy of privation and marginalisation against perceived opponents of his second term aspiration.
In a statement by Chief Davidson Agbo and Emmanuel Nwankwo, Chairman and Secretary of NIECA, they said the group's resolution to support Elechi's second term bid, which Ominyi used as basis to make his allegations, was based on the achievements of the governor and not attempt to make government rescind the decision.
Part of the statement read: "The attention of the respectable stakeholders of NIECA has been drawn to spurious publication by Mr. Nwanne Ominyi in some national dailies on February 2, 2010. In the said publications Ominyi claimed that the endorsement given by the leaders of NIECA for Governor Martin Elechi's second tenure 'was a premeditated plot by a few individuals to deceive and hoodwink the people of Ngbo, Izhia and Effium Communities'.
"After exhaustive deliberations and deep reflections on Mr. Ominyi's ranting, we the undersigned for and on behalf of the entire members of Ngbo, Izhia and Effium Consultative Assembly, (NIECA) wish to say that we dissociate ourselves from the attention-seeking ploy of Mr. Nwanne Ominyi."
Source: The Guardian, 13th Feb 2010.
2011: Ebonyi South Politicians At War Over Elective Positions
From Leo Sobechi, Abakaliki
IN Ebonyi State, the rash and clash of ambition by political bigwigs are at the centre of the burgeoning crisis threatening Ebonyi South Senatorial zone.
There is said to be an unwritten understanding in the zone that no politician should get a second term ticket for any elective office. Consequently, some chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) in the zone have started scheming for elective positions.
Yet, others who fear they may lose out in the likely clash of ambitions have also started making overtures to opposition parties as a fall back, in the belief that the much expected electoral reforms would sail through before the 2011 elections.
Though the one man, one term rule seems to be accepted for the House of Representatives seats, sources within PDP in the state say the same cannot be said of the state Assembly positions, since the party is toying with the idea of a mass return for the Assemblymen.
However, the positions of senate and Deputy Governorship are generating intense bickering and intrigue at the moment.
Proponents of the one-man-one-term agreement say it was only by dint of political providence that Prof Chigozie Ogbu became the Deputy Governor, first to Dr. Sam Egwu and now to Chief Martin Elechi.
Thus Ogbu, the former Chief Medical Director (CMD) of Ebonyi State University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, became the only politician from the zone.
Indeed, the Consultant Pediatrician became Egwu's running mate in 2003 after the Abuja group versus Home front political battle in the state chapter of the PDP. While the supremacy battle raged and with Egwu's deputy then, the late Emmanuel Oko Isu, siding with the Abuja group, Ogbu, in his position as CMD, played the role of a conciliator.
He was said to have reached out to the warring camps with the message of peace and the need to forge a common front to tackle the many infrastructure and social challenges facing the state.
Having being a Special Adviser to the former Governor of old Abia State, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, Ogbu had been playing politics from the sidelines and understood the cost of in-fighting on long-term political goals. His shuttle diplomacy and behind the scene efforts redounded to his benefit when Egwu asked him to be his running mate for the 2003 governorship election.
Many felt that Ogbu actually used the chasm between Egwu and Isu to further his political interests. But Egwu said he was deeply influenced by the Onicha-Igboeze-born medical doctor's concern for peace.
If Ogbu's emergence as Egwu's running mate and deputy was by happenstance, it was a benevolent political accident that saw him again as Elechi's running mate and deputy, though Egwu reportedly played a part.
Inside sources say Elechi was drafted into the crowded governorship race in 2006 as a compromise candidate to arrest the spectre of violence and threat to harmonious political relations of the clans within the Ebonyi chapter of PDP caused by the high number of aspirants.
Coincidentally, Ogbu was one of the 13 aspirants directed by Egwu to step down for Elechi after a rigorous and expensive campaign round parts of the state. Part of the carrots dangled by Egwu for the aspirants included a return to their former positions before their resignation to contest the governorship and the payment of some amount to defray their campaign expenses.
Only Senator Emma Azu Agboti and Ambassador Franklin Nchita Ogbu rebuffed the overtures, describing them as belated and an attempt to ridicule their political stature. Ogbu was said to have pleaded with Egwu to allow him run with the Elechi.
Following the general outcry over the conscription of Elechi, Egwu was said to have promised that a younger person would be made to run with the elder statesman. Former chairman of Afikpo North council, Mr. Iduma Enwo Igariwey, was initially penciled down to be Elechi's running mate, but the governor was said to have rejected him. It was at that point that Ogbu received positive consideration, as Elechi found him a like-mind.
So, by May 29, 2011, Ogbu would be completing two terms as deputy governor and gladiators say even the nation's constitution does not permit him another trial.
The agitation to replace Ogbu has pitched not only party faithful, but also some communities in the senatorial zone against another. For instance, the people of Edda contend that they have long lived in the shadows of their Afikpo brothers and unfairly treated in the distribution of political positions.
But observers of Ebonyi politics allege that it was in attempt to address that perceived imbalance that Governor Elechi brought in two commissioners into his cabinet from the area after the last cabinet reshuffle.
Abia Onyike, former Deputy National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Dorothy Ogonnaya Obasi, Deputy Speaker of the state House of Assembly are among those being tipped for the position.
But some members of the Edda community contend that personalities like Ufere Okoroafor and Egwu Nnachi should to be fielded for the senatorial seat. The people of Uburu alleged political marginalisation because one of their sons, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, has been running for the governorship against winning candidates.
The state Chairman of PDP, David Nweze Umahi, believes that having been invited into party politics by Elechi, he has an edge over any other individual from the zone for the Number Two position.
Perhaps in readiness, Umahi, during the yuletide season, distributed food items, cash and scholarship grants to indigenes of the area ostensibly as part of his campaign strategy for the post.
However, while Umahi carries on with the swagger of the anointed, he was said to have been jolted recently by news that the chairman of the state Economic Review Committee (ERC), Dave Nwachukwu, has indicated interest in the position.
Sources said that prior to the entrance of Nwachukwu, Umahi was pushing for the zoning of the senatorial seat to Edda.
While Ogbu and Umahi are enmeshed in the battle of wits and supremacy in the old Ohaozara division of the zone, at the old Afikpo axis, Nwachukwu is said to be campaigning against the possible zoning of the senatorial ticket to the area.
As the major actors continue to prepare for the show down, they seem to have seen the need to forge new alliances and close ranks. In Uburu, for example, Umahi, who hails from a minority village, have made up with an old-time political war-horse, Onyekachi Agwu, who is seen as an independent-minded politician that could hold his own in any electoral contest.
Umahi's peace overtures were said to have paid off during the yuletide period, when Cardinal, as Agwu is known, received and even accompanied him on his visit to the former Senate President, Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, to canvass support for his ambition.
Afikpo was agog recently when Delta State-born lawyer and political strategist, Mudi Erhenede, made up with his friend, Iduma Igariwey. Sources close to PDP told The Guardian that not a few politicians were taken aback by the sudden rapprochement between Erhenede and Igariwey.
"These two young politicians were part of the founding members of PDP in Ebonyi. They were responsible for the trouncing of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in 1999 and the routing of the Abuja group in 2002, when Egwu and Anyim were locked in a supremacy battle over PDP structures in the state. Their coming together at this time speaks volumes of what to expect in the forthcoming elections," a source stated.
Igariwey is seen as a good grassroots mobiliser and gets his way easily in Ebonyi South senatorial zone, especially Afikpo North, where he once held forte as council chairman from 1999 to 2007.
He was Elechi's campaign coordinator in 2007 during which time he fought against his kinsman, Senator Azu Agboti, who received tactical and tacit support from Erhenede.
There are speculations that the settlement of the rift between the two friends may dictate the tempo of politics in the zone.
Onicha-Igboeze community has Ogbu as its highest political leader, in addition to the chairman of Ebonyi Council of Traditional Rulers, Ezeogo Agom Eze.
Since the turbulent intra-communal strife that led to the death of two police officers, Ogbu and his wife, Catherine, kept away from home over the wanton damage done to their country home.
The deputy governor believed that the destruction in Onicha-Igboeze was stoked by those who wanted to take his position as Elechi's running mate in 2007. But the community women have been able to make gave a change of heart.
Though a source denied that Ogbu has made his senatorial ambition public, he said that the seat was for Onicha people, alleging that Umahi was behind the rumour that Ogbu was preparing to run against Elechi for the governorship next year.
As the battle rages, the opposition appears to be waiting in the wings. Egwu had at a meeting with supporters warned that if any of them thinking he could make it under another platform outside PDP must be living in a fool's paradise, insisting that Ebonyi has always been PDP, and urged his followers to stay in the party and slug it out with anybody.
He hinted that there would be nothing like automatic tickets, assuring that primary elections would be held for all elective positions.
With electoral reform still in the works, how far Ebonyi PDP goes in containing the ambition of its bigwigs would determine how far the opposition politics could go in the senatorial zone.
Source: The Guardian, 13th Feb 2010.
Ebonyi Varsity Students Protest Hike
in Tuition Fees
Kenneth Ofoma, Abakaliki
Academic activities at Ebonyi State University (EBSU) were partially paralysed yesterday following peaceful demonstration by the students, mostly non-indigenes to press home their grievances over the disparity in the recent increment in school fees of indigenes and non-indigenes.
The students numbering over 2000 took to the streets of Abakaliki, the state capital and marched from their permanent site to the College of Agricultural Sciences (CAS) campus which harbours the administrative headquarters of the university, as they chanted war songs.
The protesting students also complained of high price of private hostel accommodation in town due to non-residential system of the university, insecurity of students, inadequate social amenities in the school and alleged government interference with the activities of the Students Union.
Placards carried by the students had inscriptions such as, "say no to 10 per cent reduction in EBSU school fees", "share it 50-50", "reduce the school fees now", "say no to discrimination in EBSU" among others alleged that the school management recently increased the school fees from N19, 000 to N80, 000 for non-indigenes and N19, 000 to N60, 000 for indigenes.
The protest that started in the earlier hours saw the students blocking most of the major roads leading to the university main campus, Ezzamgbo, disrupting the on-going examination at the main campus before marching to the other campuses in the state.
At Ishieke and the College of Agricultural Sciences (CAS) campus of the institution, the students disrupted commercial activities in the area forcing most shops and filling stations to close their business premises while commercial and private vehicles near the area deserted the streets temporarily as the students were carrying logs, fresh leaves and chanting war songs.
The students described as unfortunate the recent increment in view of the economic hardship in the country regretting that the increment is so exorbitant that most parents are left with no option than to withdraw their wards from the school.
Some of the students who spoke to the Daily Champion on condition of anonymity criticised the disparity in the school fees of non-indigenes and indigenes urging the state government to reduce the increment and make the school fees uniform.
"The school authorities can not go on and increase school fees without the provision of necessary facilities that are expected to be in a higher institution. It is so unfortunate that the school does not have a single hostel, no toilet facilities; we don't even have good drinking water in the school. Now that the school fees have been increased, we expect them at least to reduce the fees and make it affordable for parents".
"The authorities should also use the proceeds to build hostels and provide other amenities in the school. This would generate fund for the school rather than increasing school fees. We call on the state government to look into our plight as most of us; our parents cannot afford N80, 000 every semester".
When our reporter placed a call to the Public Relations Officer of the university (PRO), Mr. Larry Udu his telephone rang out. However, the Personal Assistant to the State Governor on Higher Education, Prof. Mike Otuma when contacted said the State government was shocked over the protest noting that after due consultation with the students union, the school management and the state government, the school fees was recently reduced by 10 per cent.
He urged the students to always embrace dialogue in resolving issues with the school management adding that the state would also invite the leadership of the students' union body and the school management to further dialogue on the issues.
Source: Daily Champion, 2nd Feb 2010.
Nigercem Sues Ebonyi Govt Over
Judiciary Commission
KENNETH OFOMA, Abakaliki
THE Nigeria Cement Company of Nigeria (Nigercem), Nkalagu, Ebonyi State, has dragged Ebonyi State Government to a Federal High Court sitting in Enugu, challenging the government's revocation of the Certificate of Occupancy (C-of-0) and lease of Nigercem and the setting up of a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the operations of Nigercem from 2002 to date.
Joined in the suit are members of the commission headed by Justice Adrian Orah (rtd).
Nigercem is presently owned by the Eastern Bulkcem Nigeria Limited (EBNL), the core investor that bought both assets and liabilities of the factory in 2002. Eastern Bulkcem Limited, makers of Eagle Cement, Port Harcourt is believed to be behind the suit.
Nigercem is seeking an order of interlocutory injunction restraining the first defendant/respondent, Ebonyi State Government or its agents, privies, assigns, servants or howsoever from taking over the premises and/or interfering with the operations of the plaintiff/applicants (Nigercem) on all the land and property described as Nigercem land in the notice of revocation dated October 6, 2009.
The plaintiff is also seeking an order restraining the second to seventh defendants (Chairman of the Panel and other members) by themselves or their agents, servants, privies or howsoever from conducting any inquiry into the operations of the plaintiff/applicant or taking any steps which may have the result of interfering with the business of the plaintiff/applicant pending the determination of the substantive suit.
When the matter was called up Tuesday at the Federal High Court Enugu, presided over by Justice Kafarati, the counsel to all the defendants, Dr. Jacob Ibik (SAN) said the Commission of Inquiry had concluded sitting before it was served with the court processes, noting however that he had already filed notice of preliminary objection, counter affidavit in opposition to the originating summons as well as counter affidavit to the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.
In his reply, the counsel to the applicant, Onyechi Ikpeazu, represented by Ms Margaret Oputa, said the notice of preliminary objection and counter affidavits were served on him less than an hour before the court sitting and requested time to file a reply.
Justice Kafarati adjourned the matter to February 24 for mention.
The State Governor, Chief Martin Elechi had during the presentation of the 2010 budget to the State House of Assembly recently said the hope for revival of Nigercem has been dashed irrevocably.
Also, the state government through the State Ministry of Lands, Housing and Survey revoked the Right of all Statutory or Customary Certificates of Occupancy, Leases, Licences or Powers of Attorney granted or deemed to have been granted to Nigeria Cement Company or Eastern Bulkcem Limited for the purpose of mining Limestone or Shale under class "E" in, under or upon all that piece of land situated at Nkalagu in Ishielu local government of the state.
Meanwhile, Elechi had following the Federal Government's refusal to accede to the state government's request for the revocation of the sale of the Nigercem Plc, to the core investor, Eastern Bulkcem Company Limited, in October 2009, inaugurated a six-man judicial commission of inquiry to look into the operations of the company between 2002 to date.
Other members of the commission include; Sir Ebenezer Ikokwu, Arthur Chikwendu, Mr Benedict Attamah, Mr. Paul Agbo who is to serve as member and solicitor, while Jonathan Nwonumah will serve as secretary.
Source: Daily Champion, 21st January 2009.
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