By Peter Duru, Makurdi
Following the recent bloody crisis between Oju and Ibilla communities in Oju Local Government Areas of Benue State, that claimed several lives and led to the razing of houses and properties, the Ibilla Community Development Association, ICDA, has appealed to the state government to save them from being annihilated.
It would be recalled that crisis broke between the two neigbouring communities following the disagreement on the piece of land donated for a proposed University of Applied Science and Technology attracted to the area by a foreign based academic from the immediate community.
The crisis which left the two communities in ruins also led to the displacement of many who are currently staying in makeshift camps.
Lamenting the development in a statement issued Thursday in Makurdi, the National President of ICDA, Jerry Ede and the National Secretary, Victor Obeka pointed out that “countless indigenes of Ibilla were killed in the crisis and properties worth billions of Naira were also destroyed.”
The ICDA noted that the people of Oju had been trying to play the ostrich by refusing to accept the fact that they instigated the crisis and were allegedly out to oppress the Ibilla people and claim a land that belonged to the Ibilla people which they willingly donated for the siting of the institution.
ICDA in the statemenet noted that, “Ibilla people did not respond to the known schemes of Oju people in the interest of peace in our area.”
They claimed that the pople of Oju were not relenting in their plot against Ibilla community who they claimed were at the mercy of their neighbours.
According to the ICDA, “It is in view of our current state of helplessness that we call on the government, traditional institution, elders of Igede land and all people of good conscience to rescue the peace loving people of Ibilla community from total annihilation from our ancestral home land.”
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Last modified: June 29, 2023
