A peace panel report on the three-year-old war, emanating from the Bishop Emeritus of Abakiliki Diocese, Rt. Rev. Fr. Michael Nnachi Okoro, has been rejected by the people of Effium, in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. The two communities of Ezza-Effium and Effium have been at war since January 21, 2021, which led to the loss of lives and the destruction of property worth billions of naira.
The rejection of the peace pact report, according to them, was because it infringed on their fundamental human rights. A peace panel report on the three-year-old war, emanating from the Bishop Emeritus of Abakiliki Diocese, Rt. Rev. Fr. Michael Nnachi Okoro, has been rejected by the people of Effium, in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
The two communities of Ezza-Effium and Effium have been at war since January 21, 2021, which led to the loss of lives and the destruction of property worth billions of naira. The rejection of the peace pact report, according to them, was because it infringed on their fundamental human rights.
Recall that the war began from a leadership tussle between two factions of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, in a motor park in the community, after taking on a dangerous dimension with many killings and wanton destruction of property.
Although efforts were made by the past administration of Governor David Umahi and the Federal Government to end the war, they didn’t yield the desired result. To ensure lasting peace in the war-torn communities, Governor Francis Nwifuru set up a peace panel headed by a retired Catholic bishop in the state, Rev. Michael Okoro, which issued a white paper after the warring communities signed a peace pact.
But the people of Effium rejected the white paper and the peace pact. The people, under the umbrella of the Ezza-Effium Consultative Assembly, said some of their stakeholders were compelled to sign the peace pact against their free will. This was contained in a statement signed by Chief Aligwe Matthias Chukwuma, chairman of the assembly and secretary, Dr. Bernard Orichi.
The statement was made available to newsmen in Abakaliki, the state capital. They argued that the white paper was against the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which gave every Nigerian the right to live anywhere in the country and wondered why they were described by the white paper as tenants in Effium community. The people also described it as unacceptable, the aspect of the white paper that barred them from producing a traditional ruler of the Effium community when they had been doing that for so long.
