The Amasiri Clan of Afikpo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, has raised a serious alarm over what it described as state-backed military repression, occupation of ancestral land, and unlawful detention of community leaders.
This was as the members of the clan pointedly accused the Ebonyi State Government of deploying the Nigerian military against a peaceful civilian population on the allegation of an unverified accusations which resulted in arbitrary mass arrests, displacement of residents, destruction of homes, economic paralysis and the suspension of civil life across Amasiri communities.
These were disclosed at a press conference in Abuja by the spokesperson of the clan, Princess Joy Idam, who also described the operation as collective punishment that violates the Nigerian Constitution and international human rights standards.
She noted that what began as an allegation linking Amasiri to a murder in neighbouring Oso, Edda Local Government Area, was never subjected to an investigation or judicial process, stressing that no suspects were identified just as no fair hearing was granted, but the entire community was subjected to military action.
While the Amasiri leadership condemned the murder and expressed sympathy with the affected family, it however rejected what it called the criminalisation of an entire people without evidence.
The clan also alleged that following directives attributed to the Ebonyi State Government, all schools in Amasiri were shut down, markets and churches were closed, farming and trading halted, and residents forced to flee their homes.
According to Idam; “Amasiri indigenes in Abakaliki were allegedly ordered to leave the city, while civil servants of Amasiri origin reportedly received verbal termination notices.
“Students in tertiary institutions were also said to have been directed to identify themselves by origin, a development the clan described as discriminatory and unconstitutional.
“Amasiri community was removed from the list of development centres, detached from Afikpo Local Government Area and placed under a joint administrative arrangement involving four LGAs, effectively stripping the clan of political and administrative identity,” she stated.
The Amasiri leaders noted a public statement credited to the Governor suggesting that within weeks, there would be no one left in the community, a remark they described as threatening and dehumanising.
While providing historical context, the clan explained that boundary tensions between Amasiri and Oso had long been resolved through a government-gazetted White Paper in 2003, reaffirmed by both communities in 2023, and further strengthened by a peace agreement signed in December 2025 to allow immediate demarcation.
The spokesperson said that despite Amasiri’s compliance, the clan accused government ministries of repeatedly stalling implementation, adding that in January 2026, Amasiri citizens offered to fund the demarcation exercise after learning of its cost, yet no action followed.
“The situation worsened on 30 January 2026, when the military carried out mass arrests in Amasiri communities. On the same day, the Ebonyi State Government allegedly dissolved the entire political and traditional leadership of Amasiri, including traditional rulers, town union executives and village heads, without investigation or court order. Two Ezeogos and the Coordinator of the Amasiri Development Centre remained in detention for over a week,” they said.
The clan contrasted the swift militarisation of Amasiri with what it described as official silence over repeated attacks on Amasiri citizens in the past year, including reported abductions and killings along the Afikpo–Okigwe axis and the kidnapping of Amasiri farmers and residents, none of which led to arrests or prosecutions.
This, they argued, points to selective justice and unequal protection under the law.
On the disputed land known as Okporo-Ụjo, the clan maintained that it is an ancestral Amasiri land, saying that Oso settlers historically arrived as hunters and tenants who were accommodated on the outskirts of Amasiri territory. The Amasiri clan noted that the current crisis reflects an attempt by former tenants disposing their hosts through state power and force.
The Amasiri Clan therefore called on the National Security Adviser, the Chief of Defence Staff, the Chief of Army Staff, the National Human Rights Commission, Amnesty International and the international community to intervene urgently.
They particularly demanded the immediate withdrawal of military forces, an independent investigation into killings, arrests and property destruction, restoration of schools and economic life, reversal of collective sanctions and the release of detained leaders.
