The Police Command in Ebonyi State says it has arrested Anya Baron-Ogbonnia, the coordinator of Amasiri Development Centre in Afikpo, in connection with the killing of four people in Edda Local Government Area.
Joshua Ukandu, the police spokesperson in the state, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abakaliki.
Mr Ukandu, a superintendent of police, said that the arrest followed a joint operation involving the Nigerian Army, the State Security Services and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps.
He said that two traditional rulers, Onyaidam Bassey and Godfrey Oko-Obia from Amasiri in the Afikpo council area, have also been arrested.
The police earlier announced that 10 people had been arrested in connection with the killing.
The people of Okporojor in Oso Edda community in Edda and their Amasiri neighbours in Afikpo Local Government Area have been engaged in a protracted land dispute.
Suspected warlords from the Amasiri community on 29 January attacked Okporojor village and beheaded four people, burnt houses and destroyed other valuable properties.
“Yes, on the Thursday attack, the update is that the coordinator of Amasiri, two traditional rulers from Amasiri and other individuals were arrested by a joint operation of the security agencies in the state.
“Those arrested are all in our custody, and investigations on the killings are still ongoing.
“The command and other security personnel will not relent until all those involved are brought to justice,” the police spokesperson said.
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In a response to the incident, Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi had earlier sacked political appointees and dethroned traditional rulers from the Amasiri community over alleged complicity in the violent land dispute.
Mr Nwifuru, who visited the Okporojo community on Saturday, said that the Amasiri community had not shown enough commitment to maintain permanent peace in the area, and the government had decided “to bare its fangs”.
“All government appointees from Amasiri from the local government development centre–management committee members to commissioners have been sacked.
“Traditional rulers from Amasiri will have their certificates of recognition withdrawn while all town union leaderships of villages in the community are dissolved,” he said.
(NAN)
