Natives Oppose Ebonyi Governor’s Autonomy Bill

The Association of Effium Indigenous Clan Chairmen in Ohaukwu local government area, Ebonyi State, has rejected the proposed demarcation and the granting of autonomous community status to the Ezza people in Effium.

In a press statement jointly signed by its chairman, Chief E.O. Egbe, and secretary, Hon. Elom Clement Ocho, the association strongly condemned the action of the governor of Ebonyi State, Dr. Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru, for forwarding the bill to the State House of Assembly and its subsequent passage, which seeks to create an autonomous community for the Ezza-Effium people within Effium land.

According to the association, despite their immeasurable sacrifices and concessions throughout the nearly five-year conflict between the Effium and Ezza-Effium communities in Ohaukwu LGA, aimed at restoring peace and supporting the smooth running of the governor’s administration, they feel compelled to state as follows:

“We reject in strongest terms the creation of any autonomous community by the Ebonyi State Government for the Ezza-Effium within Effium land. We therefore urge the Governor to rescind and withhold assent to the said bill due to its grave implications.

“We also emphatically condemn this legislation passed by the State House of Assembly. As a legislative body charged with the responsibility of enacting laws that promote justice, peace, and good governance, it should not pass flawed laws that are unenforceable.

“This bill, to say the least, is dead on arrival. A sojourner cannot be ‘rewarded’ with the creation of an autonomous community in another man’s land simply because he took up arms against his host community.

“Our grounds for rejecting and condemning this bill are detailed below.”