Ike Nnachi, Abakaliki
The fragile peace existing between Abaomege and Ishinkwo may not last if the allegations of partiality in the ongoing demarcation exercise is allowed to continue.
The committee has been accused of allegedly ceding four communities belonging to Ishinkwo to Abaomege with whom they fought a decade long brutal war over the lands between the two communities before the state government intervened.
The people of Ishinkwo Community raised the alarm in an open letter to Ebonyi State Governor, Francis Nwifuru on Tuesday.
The letter was signed by Itumo Joseph Nwaliebu, President Generalof Ishinkwo Community Development Union(ICDU), and 14 other heads of villages and stakeholders in the community.
The Community, in the letter, alleged that the discrepancies arising from the ongoing boundary demarcation exercise are as a result of the committe’s refusal to follow the instructions contained in the white paper issued and gazetted by the state government.
The white paper followed the report of a peace committee set up by the governor in 2023 to enquire into the remote and immediate causes of the age-long crises between Ishinkwo and Abaomege Autonomous Communities.
The Community noted that Paragraph 2 of the white paper stated that the government should adopt the principle of fairness and equity in demarcating the disputed boundary between the two communities by considering proximity in allocating the 8 contentious swamp lands to any of the deserving communities.
They alleged that: “Contrary to the description of the white paper, the whole boundary demarcation exercise is being hijacked by influence, peculiar interest, clannishness, nepotism and sectional interest exhibited by those seated in the corridors of power against the Ishinkwo Community.
“The boundary demarcation committee abandoned the use of the official gazette white paper and preferred to implement the old purported boundary of Abaomege Community and discarded the idea that Ishinkwo Community equally has her boundary.
The community in the open letter co-signed by 14 others described the actions of the demarcation committee as a rape of justice.
“According to paragraph 2 of the official gazette white paper in considering proximity, Iyocha swamp land is nearer to Abaomege Community, and it was ceded to them, whereas Ekerigwe and Agbechicha are situated in the hinterland of Ugwuokwe village in Ishinkwo Community.
“But the committee, contrary to the white paper, went on to demarcate the two swamp lands and thereby planned to carve out four sub-villages from Ishinkwo Community and cede them to Abaomege Community.
“We have been living and farming there, as well as burying our forefathers in those sub-villages for decades, and our houses are still presently in the area. We plead with the Ebonyi State Government to send a delegate to pay a visit to the area,” they wrote.
The community alleged that during the contentious demarcation exercise, the map recommended in the white paper was not made available to aid the demarcation process.
They listed the sub villages in danger of being wrongly ceeded to Abaomege as Ugbonaa, Obodoma, Ukwuokwe and Ohainya.
They therefore pleaded with the governor to intervene and ensure that the five swamp lands captured in the white paper be shared according to stipulations.
“While we plead that the correct thing should be done on the remaining portions to be demarcated, the areas already covered should be amended to bring it into agreement with the content of the white paper.
“All the lands which never formed part of the disputed lands which are brought in for demarcation as highlighted in paragraph 14 of this open letter be left alone,” they added.
The urged the governor to intervene in order to avoid reoccurrence of the crises.
