• Allegations untrue, he says
Ekoli Edda community in Ebonyi State has called for the intervention of President Bola Tinubu in the cycle of killings, which have claimed over 30 lives in the area.
The community also called for the arrest of a former Chairman of Edda Local Council, Uduma Chima, for his alleged role in the killings during his reign, which spanned the administration of former Governor Dave Umahi.
Chima was a member of Ebonyi State House of Assembly, a transitional and three-term chairman of the local council.
However, the community through a philanthropist, Chief Julius Oji, petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and the Director-General of the Department of State Security (DSS) over the killings in the council, which they claimed left trail of blood and destruction.
The petition titled: “Gun running, terrorism and bloodshed in Ekoli Edda; an unwholesome act being perpetrated by Mr. Eni Uduma Chima, the former chairman of Edda Local Council and his accomplices, the Morekanbedone Killer Squad”, was written by the law firm of Ogban, Ebenezer & Co, on behalf of the community.
According to the petitioners, three members of Ekoli Edda community and a Police Inspector were also killed on December 26, 2022, during an attack on the Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the state, Mr Stanley Emegha.
Oji said he recently led troops of the Nigerian Army to recover a cache of arms, which the gang surrendered.
The petitioners called on the Nigerian Army to mop up the remaining cache of arms from the gang, alleging that some of the gang members in the forest are operating as a cell of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
According to the petitioners, some of the weapons surrendered by the gang, included AK-47 Rifles, Rocket launchers, dynamites and hand grenades, among others.
They accused the council boss of gunrunning, bloodbath, and use of a killer squad to unleash terror on them as well as decimating their time-honoured traditional institution.
They further alleged that Chima arrogated to himself the sole right and prerogative of determining who heads all organs of local administration in the community.
They informed the President that the accused persons have not only caused much bloodshed in Edda but have continued to terrorise and make life unbearable for them and the good people of Ekoli Edda.
The petitioners urged the President, to use his good offices to cause the relevant security agencies to sustain their activities in Edda, particularly by flushing out the said criminals at their hideouts at Aliugbogho Farm Settlement and the mop-up operation of the arms and ammunition, now in the hands of the notorious gang.
However, Chima denied the allegations, saying they were politically motivated.
He said he remained the most loved politician in the area. “They paint a false picture. I am the most loved politician in Edda. I came in and displaced many of the elites. We came and changed the narrative.
“The allegations are false. It is politically motivated. They recycle pictures when it’s time for politics and appointment,” he claimed.
On the conflict between Edda and neighbouring communities in Cross River State, he said members of the Edda community have surrendered their arms in the interest of peace, while the other warring communities have not done so.
