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Okpanku cries for help over serial attacks on Uhuezeoke, Ebonyi
By Cyprian Ajah
Residents of Uhuezeoke Okpanku have cried out for help over serial attacks by people suspected to be to land grabbers from Uburu in Ohaozara Local Government Area, Ebonyi State.
Residents expressed dismay that the attack has lingered for decades without solution. the community has been encountering recurring incidence of attack each year as Umunaga Uburu in Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State and Uhuezeoke Okpanku in Aninri Local Government of Enugu State are yet to settle their age long land dispute.
A resident disclosed that Umulaga and Uhuezeoke have been on each other’s throats as a result of boundary dispute between the two villages. The dispute has left four people killed and two injured. Most recent was the deadly attack carried out by suspected assailant from Uburu which left a man and young girl dead.
Investigation revealed that during rainy season, which is the period for cultivation of crops, the two villages would fight tooth and nail for the ownership of some portions of farmland. The crisis usually ends in assaults.
Further investigation also revealed that not less than four people have been shot dead between 11 December, 2024 and 6th January, 2025. Among whom were three women and a young man.
One of the victims was a girl who came to visit her grandmother on 6th January, 2025 but met her death in the hands of the assailants at Uhuezeoke.
An indegene of the community, who preferred anonymity, said the attackers came through Uburu road and carried out the deadly attack on 6th January, 2025. He also insinuated that the attack is not far from the land dispute “I think the attack might have been carried out by the Umunaga community of Uburu who have had a longstanding land tussle with Okpanku” he alleged.
Similar attack was carried out by same assailants between 2020 and 2021 in Amaeze Okpanku where one Ajah Dickson and Chukwu Ifeanyi were shot at different locations where they went to Shaw wood.
The then Executive Chairman Aninri Local government, Ezekiel Chukwu, and his counterpart in Ohaozara intervened to get medical treatment for the victims.
Residents of both communities are living in fear, anticipating the intervention of the government to dowse the tension.
The conflict threatens the age long relationship between Uburu and Okpanku. Both communities are tied with similar culture that binds them together. They are neighbours who share common boundaries and also exchange marital vows.
A source disclosed that between 2019, 2020 and 2021, selected indigenes of Okpanku went to Uburu to meet with the then governor of Ebonyi State, Engr David Umuahi, for a possible solution to the land dispute with Okpanku. The governor promised to set up a committee comprising men of good will from both communities to come up with a solution to the problems. However, the result of the meeting led the people of Okpanku to brief then Enugu governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. He also promised to look into the land crisis with a solution. Since then, not much was heard from both governors as warring communities continue to be serious threat to each other. Wanton killings, maiming and destruction of properties by suspected aggrieved members of the communities have been the order of the day.
It is anticipated that the governments of Enugu and Ebonyi states should come together to proffer lasting solution to resolving the crisis before it escalates to full blown communal crisis.
The crisis may result to food insecurity within the localities as the resident are known for agrarian farming, if unresolved.