Police yesterday arrested Ebonyi State Deputy Chief of Staff, Prof Fidelis Okpata, in connection with the communal crisis between the people of Ekpaomaka in Ikwo Local Government Area and their neighbours at Inyimagu. The two communities have been at war in the last two weeks. It has claimed several lives while many houses and other valuables believed to worth millions of naira were burnt.
There have also been pockets of hostage taking. Children were running from their schools in different directions. Settlers in the communities were also packing out their property from their houses. Yesterday, Governor Dave Umahi summoned an enlarged emergency security meeting at Exco Chambers, Government House, Abakaliki, over the crisis. During the meeting, Umahi ordered arrest of Okpata and other government appointees in the communities for their inability to quell the crisis.
The appointees were immediately arrested by the state Commissioner of Police, Titus Lamorde, who was at the meeting. Umahi expressed dismay that despite government’s decision to set up a committee to look into the crisis, the two communities have refused to give peace a chance. He said: “I am sad that there is still crisis in these communities despite the fact that we set up a committee in this state to look into the matter.
We pleaded with the communities to allow ceasefire and await the outcome of the committee report but it does appear that they do not want to give peace a chance. “I therefore order the commissioner of police to arrest all the stakeholders and political office holders from the communities. Without looking back, all of you in this Executive Council Chamber are under arrest.
I want the commissioner of police to detain you people until peace returns to the communities.” The governor also said that his administration would do everything possible to ensure safety of the people of the state and deal with anybody found fomenting trouble in the communities no matter how highly placed. Meanwhile, Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 6, Usman Abubakar, yesterday ordered the state police command to recover all arms illegally acquired by people in their localities. He said the order was in compliance with the directives of the Inspector-General of Police (IG), Ibrahim Idris. Abubakar spoke in Abakaliki during stakeholders meeting on his two-day working visit to the state.
He said: “There are rules and regulations guiding the possession of firearms. Those people who obtained their firearms illegally should surrender them to the police immediately, otherwise whatever happens to them they know the consequences. The IG has set up a committee to go round and recover all the illegal arms. This direc-tive is for all Nigerians.”