May 23, (THEWILL) – Suspected warlords of Abaomege/Ishinkwo communities in Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi State have set ablaze a government excavator used in the demarcation of the disputed area.
THEWILL recalls that the two neighbouring communities have been at war since 1902 over a vast fertile land with many lives lost and properties worth billions of naira destroyed.
Upon assumption of office, the state Governor, Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru, set up a committee to resolve the crisis and issued a white paper whose recommendations include demarcation of the communities with roads and wide drainage channels, among other measures to ensure lasting peace.
The demarcation process has been ongoing since this year until Tuesday this week, when one of the excavators carrying out the exercise was burned down by suspected warlords who were not comfortable with the terms of the peace initiative.
During an on-the-spot visit to the crisis zone by Journalists on Thursday amidst tight security, the local government chairman, Chief Ikechukwu Ogbofia, described the incident as unfortunate and sabotage of government efforts, but insisted that peace must prevail in the area.
Ogbofia, who spoke through the Public Relations Officer of the local government, Omekannaya Orogwu, said it occurred one week after one of the warring communities threatened to destroy the equipment being used in the demarcation if it was not done according to their choices.
He vowed that instead of the incident weakening the demarcation, it would rather strengthen the exercise for the interest of peace
“There is no amount of threat, there is no amount of sabotage that will stop the ongoing demarcation of the communities because to us as a government, that will bring permanent solutions to that age-old war”, he said.
Ogbofia said the government will take another measure to ensure that the demarcation is completed.
Sunday Ogbu is a professional journalist with eight - twelve years experience that had worked with various print and online media. Sunday specializes in news reporting with the aim of educating his readers on current social, political and economic occurences within his area of coverage. Sunday is a strong force to work with in the media industry and uses his positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed. Sunday is inspired daily by his wife and their four children. In his free time, Sunday likes sight-seeing, reading and discussing issues of societal interest.
