Ebonyi penalizes community over killings as Assembly expunges it from list of development centres
The Ebonyi state House of Assembly has delisted Amasiri Development Centre from the list of 64 development centres in the state
The Assembly passed an Executive Bill on the delisting of the centre into law during its plenary on Tuesday – yesterday, February 3.
The passage of the bill reduced the number of Development Centers in the State to 63 and that of Afikpo Local Government Area to four,
The delisting followed a recent attack on Okporojo village in Oso-Edda Community, Edda Local Government Area of the State by suspected warlords.
The community and their Amasiri neighbours, Afikpo Local Government Area of the State, have been at war for decades over land with many lives lost and property worth millions of naira destroyed.
Commenting shortly after an exhaustive deliberation of the House, the Speaker, Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Chief Moses Ije Odunwa, who condemned the dastardly attack on Okporojo people, said the Assembly was strongly in support of Governor Francis Nwifuru’s decision to delist Amasiri Development Center as one of the Development Centres in the state and described Nwifuru’s action as proactive and corrective.
According to Odunwa, the attack on Okporojo people was unwarranted given the peaceful disposition of the Governor and prayed for eternal repose of the deceased.
He urged Okporojo people to remain calm and law-abiding while the State works on bringing lasting Peace in the area.
In their remarks, some members of Assembly, including the member representing Ebonyi North west Constituency Hon Aloysius Nwodo, the Chief Whip of the House, Hon Nkemka Okoro Onuma the representative of Izzi West State Constituency, Chief Godwin Abiri, Hon Ifeanyi Nwakpu representing Ikwo North, Hon Innocent Chikaodili Nomeh representing Ezza North West and his Ezza South counterpart, Hon . Friday Ogbuewu, described the attack as barbaric, senseless, regrettable and unfortunate.
They commended the Governor for his timely interventions in restoring peace in the warring areas saying there was no price too high for peace.
The lawmakers urged Amasiri People to demonstrate true repentance rather than staging protests.
Meanwhile, apart of efforts to find a lasting solution to the Amasiri – Okporojo Edda crisis, the four local government chairmen in Ebonyi South senatorial who were ordered by Governor Francis Nwifuru to takeover governance in Amasiri community, have taken the mantle of leadership of the community.
The four chairmen who include; Emmanuel Ajah(Ivo Local Government Area), Chinonso Ajah(Ohaozara Local Government Area), Chima Ekumankama(Edda Local Government Area) and Timothy Nwachi((Afikpo Local Government Area), met with the women of the community.
According to them, the actions of the governor on the community were not taken to punish the people but to address and forestall further killings and breakdown of law and order.
They appealed to them to join hands with government to address the matter and refrain from confronting the government or its agents.
Describing their actions as affront to government, they appealed to the women not to carry out any further protests as such could exacerbate the situation.
They debunked the position of the women who may be arguing that government hates them and enjoined them to reach out to their husbands and children to address the situation.
They told them that the Governor had a compassionate heart and would listen to their grievances if their complaints were not direct attacks or condemnation of government’s well intended actions.
The women were further told by the council chairmen that there were more civilised ways of getting their feelings across to government and requested them to articulate their reservations for onward passage to government.
