“We Are Not Enemies Of the State”: Amasiri Cries Out Over Military Siege, Collective Punishment in Ebonyi
When schools are shut, markets sealed and families forced to flee, it is no longer a security operation, it becomes a humanitarian emergency.
This is the case of the Amasiri Clan in Afikpo LGA of Ebonyi State that has appealed to the international community after what it described as an unprovoked military invasion of its peaceful farming communities, following an unverified allegation of murder in neighbouring Oso, Edda LGA.
Speaking through a former Assistant Secretary of NUJ FCT Council, Princess Joy Idam, the community said soldiers carried out mass arrests of unarmed youths, invaded and destroyed homes, fired continuously from night till dawn, displaced entire villages and recorded loss of lives.
They alleged that, acting on directives attributed to the Ebonyi State Government, all schools in Amasiri were shut, markets and churches were closed, farming and trading were halted, and residents in Abakaliki were ordered to leave the city.
Civil servants of Amasiri origin reportedly received verbal termination notices, while students in Abakaliki-based tertiary institutions were ordered to self-identify by origin.
The clan also accused the government of stripping Amasiri of its development centre status, detaching it from Afikpo LGA and placing it under a joint administrative arrangement by four LGAs.
They further cited a public statement credited to the Governor that “within three weeks, there will be nobody in the community.”
While condemning the alleged murder that triggered the crisis and sympathising with affected families, Amasiri rejected collective blame without investigation, noting that no suspects were identified and no fair hearing granted.
They recalled that a 2003 government White Paper had resolved the Amasiri-Oso boundary dispute, reaffirmed in 2023, and that both communities had signed a peace agreement in December 2025 for demarcation.
According to them, implementation was repeatedly stalled by government agencies, even after Amasiri offered to fund the security costs of about ₦3.5 million per day.
They also highlighted past attacks against Amasiri people that went unaddressed, including months of abductions and killings along the Afikpo, Okigwe highway, the abduction of five Amasiri farmers in January 2025, and the kidnapping of a retired soldier and his wife in May 2025, none of which reportedly led to arrests.
The clan alleged political bias, citing the Governor’s public dissatisfaction with Amasiri and Afikpo LGA over electoral support, and claimed the dissolution of their traditional and political leadership on 30 January 2026 left the community defenceless.
They said two Ezeogos and the Coordinator of the Amasiri Development Centre remain in detention.
Amasiri further asserted historical ownership of the disputed Okporo-Ụjo land, describing Oso ancestors as former hunters and tenants accommodated on Amasiri’s outskirts, and accused them of attempting to dispossess their hosts through altered claims.
Calling on Nigeria’s security chiefs, the National Human Rights Commission, Amnesty International and the international community, Amasiri demanded the immediate withdrawal of troops, an independent investigation into alleged killings, arrests and destruction of property, restoration of schools, markets and worship, reversal of collective sanctions, and equal protection under the law.
The clan also alleged discriminatory directives barring Amasiri pupils from registering for the 2026 Common Entrance in Abakaliki and forcing students of Ebonyi State University to present NINs to gain access to lecture halls.
“We are citizens entitled to life, dignity, security and justice,” the statement said, warning that history is recording the unfolding crisis.
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