Five years after war erupted in Erei-speaking communities in the Biase Local Government Area of Cross River State, authorities are yet to find a solution as the number of deaths continues to pile up and the communities are left in ruins, this investigative report by Godwin Otang reveals.
More than 150 people, mostly young men, have been killed in Erei communities in Cross River over lingering communal disputes, according to Gabriel Ukam Iyam, clan head of 10 Erei communities.
Data from P4pnigerdelta.org, a conflict fatality tracker, indicates that within the first half of 2018, a period that coincided with the intensity of the Erei crisis, conflict incidents, and fatalities rose significantly in the State. According to data published by the Foundation For Partnership Initiatives In The Niger Delta (PIND), in 2024, communal conflict over land ownership and boundary disputes caused more than 400 fatalities in Cross River State between January 2020 and December 2023.
“My Uncle Ajah Owai was lost during the War, and another of my Uncle Sabastine Inyam Ukam also was killed during the war. I have many brothers to mention that I lost in this war. The solution is to let peace reign”, Ms Josephine Egwu Esu, a middle-aged woman and native of Urugbam village explained, as she bit firm her lips trying to hold back her tears.
Remote Causes Of The Crisis
The object of dispute among the warring communities is the land that covers Ugbeke, Imuopia, and Odumina (which is the northern portion), all in Egbor, one of the Erei communities and part of Erei Oil Palm Plantation Farm Settlement Project.
From the late nineties, Egbor maintained this portion and managed it via local community leased methods through which their neighbors took full charge. Urugbam, in Erei and Ekoli Edda communities from Afikpo South in Ebonyi, all neighboring communities benefited from this local community tripartite arrangement. This gave employment to youths of those communities in the oil palm plantation.
In 2018, the Egbor community decided to give this portion to a company known as African Stone Works Ltd, for a lease agreement of 20 years at the cost of N20 million naira, to maximize profit. They thereafter, sent local messengers to inform their former clients and neighboring communities to take note of the arrangement and stay clear from the plantation henceforth, since it was now on contract.
This development was not palatable to some of Egbor neighbors especially Urugbam, which at this time had assumed co-ownership of the northern portion of the oil palm farm settlement at Egbor; Urugbam community’s argument was that Blocks 1 to Blocks 17 of the said plantation leased to the firm was their portion and that they do not intend or support the idea to lease it out to African Stone Works Limited.
After failed meetings of all community heads in Erei, the paramount ruler of Biase and police intervention, the situation resorted to violence: At this time, at least seven communities and half of the 10 Erei communities were defending Egbor, which they insisted owned the land, while Afono community and some part of Edu community were supporting Urugbam. In the middle of the heated dispute, Urugbam community also decided to align with Ekoli Edda community in Ebonyi State which was also laying claims to the land, despite a predated court judgment from 1962, that went in favor of the Egbor Community.
Urugbam Against Agbanwan, Others: Deaths, Gunshots And Massacre
Agbanwan, one of the Erei communities, got involved in the dispute following their refusal to support Urugbam in their claims of ownership, Agbanwan and Urugbam are considered to be blood relations.
When Mr. Philip Obin, former Technical Assistant to the former Vice President of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osibanjo on New Media, in the heat of the lingering argument embarked on a peace talk mission to Egbor community, alongside some community leaders, peace talks met resistance by armed vigilante security employed by the African Stone Works Limited, to secure the estate, this led to a chaotic situation which resulted to a gun battle against the visitors.
Apparently, this subsequently provoked a reappraisal attack from Urugbam community that eventually claimed several lives and houses in Agbanwan, Egbor, and Ipene communities. The decision for Agbanwan to fight back at Urugbam was also fueled by warnings that had been given to Urugbam to stay away from the land and withdraw their claims over the land.
Since then, there have been attacks and counter-attacks by the communities which eventually led to massive destruction of Urugbam, their sympathizers, and total displacement of the people. During one of the attacks in December 2018, many people were killed, including women and children, while hundreds fled for safety.
Weak Intervention By State Authorities Escalated The War
Former Cross River State Deputy Governor, Professor Ivara Esu, whose mother is from Agbanwan in Erei, constituted a Judicial Panel of Enquiry headed by the then Acting Chief Judge of Cross River State, Justice Eyor Effiong Ita, to investigate the crisis.
While the panel was still sitting, on October 31, 2018, there was a joint meeting of both Ebonyi and Cross River State and the National Boundary Commission held in Abuja on the Crisis, where Prof. Ivara Esu represented the Cross River State Government. The officials allegedly ignored the ongoing Judicial Panel of Enquiry and signed a communique from that meeting that declared a tripartite ownership for the plantation.
The communique stated that Egbor, Urugbam, and Ekoli Edda should jointly harvest palm fruits from the plantation in accordance with the local community arrangement that existed before the land was leased out.
After the communique was issued, there was a total breakdown of law and order. And at least seven communities went against Urugbam, and Ekoli Edda. The Erei communities passed a vote of no confidence in the Cross River State former Deputy Governor Ivara Esu, and accused him of falsehood, bias, and compromise.
The only subsisting state intervention is the establishment of a military base at Urugbam community. Findings show that this has only deterred the communities from taking arms against each other, but has not provided any lasting solution to the yearslong land dispute in the area.
Pupils Learn Under Mango Tree While Others Are Out Of School
Apart from the destruction and looting of property in the warring communities, children’s basic education is facing a major threat in the region. At Urugbam community, for instance, 103 pupils between ages 5 and 12 years were found learning under a mango tree opposite the newly established military base in the area.
A security man at the premises, Mr. Onete Ibi Ibor, said the pupils are from the Presbyterian Primary School Urugbam, whose buildings were destroyed during the crisis.
“My request is that the government should come and give us a building,” Onete said. The school which has 7 male teachers and 1 female is supposed to cater to children’s basic learning from Urugbam and other neighboring communities. School lessons are held for Primary 1 to Primary 6 classes in the open at the military base for security reasons. In the Afono community, which also has a lot of internally displaced persons, all children in their hundreds are out of school.
A mother who lost her husband in the crisis, Mrs. Laura Ajah (not her real name), bemoaned her losses. “We are back to square one,” she said. “Many of our children are out of school. Look at me, I was eating on the table, but now, I cannot even take care of my children because of a land dispute.”
Mrs. Ajah continued: “This matter has reduced us to zero. Some of us have sent our children to relatives outside because they cannot live in this bush with us. “You can see all our houses have been destroyed. Please, we want peace to reign. Let the government come and help us. We are suffering. we cannot even get water here.”
In Erei, no community has had power supply for years now. The electric facilities like transformers, and power cables were destroyed during the crisis. Community markets where the locals sell their oil palm, fish, yam, garri and other farm produce were burnt down, especially in Afono and Urugbam communities.
There are no modern water facilities for the locals which has further endangered their hygiene. The communities cannot boast of good toilets and open defecation is still widely practised.
The entire Erei lacks a major road that links them to the main Calabar-Ugep-Ikom Federal Highway, a situation that some locals say has made transportation very difficult. Most times, travellers have to go through Uwana and Afikpo in Ebonyi State and turn to Ugep, before they can access Calabar, the Cross River State capital.
A Loud Call For Peace By All Sides
Gabriel Ukam Iyam, clan head of 10 Erei communities, who spoke to CrossRiverWatch at Umolo village, said the government should rise up and urged community members to listen to any advice from the government.
A community women leader Ukam Theresa Ajah also emphasized the need for government intervention. “The government should look into it to stop this crisis because even till today, we have no peace. Many villages were burnt down. They should not leave us to continue to suffer in this matter. There should be forgiveness and peace and harmony.”
Onun Emmanuel Ukam Uyene of Urugbam echoed the same sentiment. He said “After the panel report was ready, we were told the report was in our favor. So while we waited for the report of the panel, a series of violent attacks happened. That was why the white paper from the panel report could not come out. The government apart from the panel has not done anything. We need government intervention from all angles.”
At Egbor community, the village head, Chief Laurence Eke, urged government authorities to visit the communities for proper investigation and promised to abide by whatever solution is provided while Mrs. Maria Egwu of Urugbam Community, pleaded that, “whatever the government can do to see that peace reigns in Erei, let the government do it. I am ready to receive it and I will be happy if that will be done.”
From the Agbanwan community, Dr. John I. Ukam, a senior lecturer from the Department of Mass Communication, University of Cross River State (UNICROSS), also called for peace via government intervention. “Rather than planting a force operational base in Urugbam, the State government should make other attempts at peaceful resolution,” he said.
This report is produced with support from Civic Media Lab (CML).