An Ezza-Effium indigene, who is also a security personnel explained to SaharaReporters that the victims were attacked by Uffium militants in a communal crisis that has remained unresolved.
No fewer than five indigenes of the Ezza-Effium community in Ebonyi State, who fled to the Nwokwo Odoke area of Benue state, have been killed by gunmen.
An Ezza-Effium indigene, who is also a security personnel explained to SaharaReporters that the victims were attacked by Uffium militants in a communal crisis that has remained unresolved.
According to him, the victims fled their hometown in the South-East due to the level of insecurity in the area and had fled to a border community, Nwoko Odoke under the Ado Local Government Area of Benue state but were still attacked.
He said, “Uffium militants attacked Nwokwo Odoke on Sunday and killed five indigenes of Ezza-Effium that fled Ebonyi to Ado Local Government of Benue State. A Catholic priest was also injured.”
SaharaReporters can recall that there has been a lingering communal crisis between Ezza-Effium and Effium people of the Ohuakwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State since January 2021, which resulted in the death of innocent persons and destruction of property worth millions of naira."
He said Ezza-Effium indigenes are at the core of insecurity challenges in the North as they not only suffer from herdsmen attacks but are also at the risk of being murdered by their kinsmen over land disputes.
During the Easter Break, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who visited the areas, assessed the level of damage caused by the conflict and promised that the Federal Government will do everything to ensure that security is beefed up in the communities.
He also stated that victims will get justice. He condemned the attacks, and sympathised with the victims, describing such acts as cowardly, wicked, and “very deeply distressing.”