In Benue, Delta and Ebonyi States, a tale of bloodshed and destruction has persisted, leaving a trail of devastation in its wake. Communal and land clashes have ravaged some communities in the states, claiming the lives of 1,045 innocent people and displacing hundreds more.
The once-peaceful communities are now gripped by fear and uncertainty as the sound of gunfire and screams regularly echo through the streets.
The persistent violence has also wrought havoc on the economic fabric of the states, with property worth millions of naira destroyed.
The destruction of homes, farms, and businesses has left many without shelter, food, or livelihoods. The fear of attacks, killings, and despair hangs heavy in the air as the people of Benue, Delta and Ebonyi struggle to come to terms with the magnitude of the avoidable tragedy that has befallen them.
As the cycle of violence continues unabated, the people of these states cry out for justice, peace, and security. The federal and governments’ responses have been inadequate, and the people are left to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives.
Consequently, the survivors have appealed to the international community for assistance in the humanitarian crises that have ensued with little or no succour.
LEADERSHIP Sunday investigation showed that in the last one year, Benue State has recorded a total of 1,000 deaths, Delta State,35, and Ebonyi State, 10, from land disputes and communal clashes.
In fact, unofficial sources said the death toll only from land and border disputes in Ebonyi runs into hundreds. They asserted that the purported figure of 10 casualties was an understatement.
In Gwer East local government, the land disputes between Mbasombo and Mbaivur, which started in 2020, have heightened.
Our correspondent gathered that property worth over N2 billion, including public and private assets, and farms, were destroyed in the course of the crises, with over 60 people killed.
A victim of the Mbasombo and Mbaivur crises and a staff member of Radio Nigeria, Harvest FM Makurdi, Abraham Aondo, said the crises claimed his and his father’s houses, farms, and property in Ikpayongo.
However, relative peace has returned to both communities following interventions by the state governor Hyacinth Alia, the Benue State House of Assembly speaker, traditional rulers, and stakeholders in the area.
In Konshisha and Oju LG, the crisis between Bonta and Okukpe, took a deadly dimension when 11 security personnel and hundreds of the residents were killed by armed men suspected to be local bandits
An indigene of Oju, who identifies himself as Ogar, told LEADERSHIP Sunday that over 200 persons lost their lives in the crisis and property worth millions of naira, including farms, were destroyed.
He added that the ongoing discussion on boundary demarcation had brought relative peace to the area.
Also, in Ado LG, the age-long land disputes between Agila and Ngbo communities of Ebonyi State, hundreds of lives have been lost, and property worth millions of naira was destroyed
The stakeholders are now engaged in boundary demarcation talks for peace to reign.
An indigene of the Agila community, Ogbu Efuha, said the crisis is a long one which has claimed so many life and property.
He said, “It is a crisis that started long ago, and people from Ado in Benue State and Ohakwu from Ebonyi State have suffered so much loss.
“However, with the intervention of the members of the House of Representatives from both states, it has subsided. We have resumed a cordial relationship where we now visit one another,” he said.
It was gathered that in Vadeikya LG, many lives have also been lost in the perennial boundary disputes among Mbaadigam, Mbaagishi, Mbaaji, and Mbazerem communities in Mbaduku and Igwe, Okotom, Okambi and Abonnikev in Obudu, Cross River State.
Villagers put the death toll from the clashes among the communities.
Kene, who is from Mbaduku, said the long-drawn crisis in the area has claimed over 100 lives with property worth several millions of naira destroyed, adding that the boundary demarcation process of the federal government had brought relative peace.
Recently, there was a land dispute in Idiri and Ogene communities of Okpoga in Okpokwu Local Government, where two people lost their lives.
In Ebonyi State, other communal crises have continued apart from the Ezza-Ezzilo communal crisis and the Effuim-Ezza Effium land dispute.
Disagreements between the youths of the two communities sparked the Ezza-Ezzillo communal crisis and the Ezza-Effuim land dispute. The Abomege-Isinkwu seemingly war, the Ngbo-Agila dispute, that of Eddah in Ebonyi, and the one involving communities in the Cross River State have defiled all interventions.
Since the inception of the present administration, there has been relative peace in some of the communities except that of the Ezza-Effuim communal crisis, where guerrilla warfare is still being carried out with a good number of people being killed by suspected warlords in the two warring communities.
On May 3, 2024, 10 persons were killed in a fresh attack at Inikiri village in Ezza-Effium community in Ohaukwu local government area of Ebonyi State. The attack on the Umuezeoka community on May 1, 2024, also led to the destruction of property by the gunmen, whose identities have not been ascertained
Lingering land and boundary disputes among communities have always caused communal clashes in Delta State.
In August last year, two persons were killed, with many others sustaining injuries in renewed hostilities between the warring Aladja community of Udu LGA and the Ogbe-Ijoh of Warri Southwest LGA
The hostilities flowed from the inability of the state government to demarcate their disputed boundary. Several persons were shot, resulting in the death of a 40-year-old Efe America in Aladja and a 29-year-old female wedding guest at Ogbe-Ijoh.
In 2023, Okuama, Bomadi LGA, and Okoloba in Ughelli LGA communities in the state reportedly fought over land and a fishing lake.
In January 2024, six persons were killed while many others sustained bullet wounds in the shootout over a land dispute between the two communities.
In March 2024, 15 military personnel were killed. The personnel consisted of two Majors, one Captain, and 12 soldiers attacked and killed by some youths.
They were said to have met their deaths while responding to a distress call during a clash between Okuama, Bomadi LGA and Okoloba communities in Delta state. The troops who were on a peace mission to Okuoma community in were killed by community youths.
