The Council Chairman of Ebonyi local government area and the Senior Special Assistant, SSA, to the governor on the street light, Prince Chinedu Uburu and Chinedu Awo has narrated how security operatives were mobilized to avert another communal clash between Isophumini village, Mbeke-Ishieke in Ebonyi LGA. and Ezza-Effium Community.
In their separate reactions, Uburu who spoke to newsmen in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, said he received a distress call about an outbreak of crisis between Ezza and Ebonyi people at Nwori Isophumini Market square, Mbeke-Ishieke, and quickly mobilized security operatives who brought the situation under control.
The council chairman, Uburu said: “I was informed that a group of men heavily armed with assorted rifles invaded the said market square at about 8:00pm and started shooting sporadically in the air, attacking people on ground with machetes, iron rods and sticks, thereby leading to total pandemonium in the market” he noted.
Uburu, applauded the efforts of the stakeholders of the rival Ezza -Effium community, who, according to him, responded swiftly by calling to order the suspected perpetrators, saying that normalcy has since returned in Isophumini village, Mbeke-Ishieke in Izzi LGA.
He said the remote cause of the crisis has been traced to the activities of two groups of persons who exist in the market area; the members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW and the security committee of Isophumini Village which demanded some money from a driver, a member of NURTW.
“A lorry conveying goods covered with tarpaulin was stopped for a search and the driver who claimed that he was conveying timber resisted the search. As the struggle to search the vehicle continued the driver allegedly put up a call to the alleged owner of the goods. Within a short time after the call, a group of suspected armed men with assorted weapons, including rifles invaded the venue where the lorry was packed and began to unleash mayhem on the people around the scene of the incident” he stated
The chairman lamented the level of damages done and injuries inflicted on the people of Isophuminivillage, adding that the villagers were yet to compile and get a comprehensive record of properties destroyed and injuries inflicted on the people.
Responding, Awo, a former Ebonyi State House of Assembly member, strongly condemned the action of the perpetrators and assured that the stakeholders of Ezza-Effium community would ensure the perpetrators are brought to book, “Peace and order were restored in the village, and people have started going about their legitimate businesses” he added.