The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ebonyi State, on Tuesday, debunked reports of a rift between Governor Francis Nwifuru and his predecessor, the Minister of Works, David Umahi.
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It will be recalled that there were social media reports suggesting a rift between the two political actors over the control of political structure in the state.

The state chairman of the party, Stanley Okoro-Emegha,dismissed the rumour while interacting with newsmen in Abakaliki on a tour of wards and Local Government Areas in the state which starts on Tuesday.

Okoro-Emegha described the report as an insinuation, insisting that there was no possibility of a rift between both leaders.

“The APC is a disciplined party and everyone knows where his power begins and ends. The governor and the minister have a good working relationship and both know about this tour.

“The party leadership in the state knows the limits of its powers as it does not own the party,” he said.

According to him, the sensitisation tour was to re-awaken the spirit of members at the ward and LGA levels for the desired unity and formidability.

“We want to interact with members at the grassroots to know the prospects and the challenges they face. There are no issues at the ward and LGA levels as we intend to ascertain areas of intervention in overcoming challenges,” he added.

Two persons have reportedly been killed in the renewed communal clash between the people of Umuobor-Akaeze, and their Ogwor neighbours in the Ishiagu community both in the Ivo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

The communal clashes in the area have claimed many lives, including men, women, and passersby.

According to community sources, a man and a woman were killed on Monday by suspected assailants who laid ambush in the disputed land.

TheNigerian Metro reports that two neighbouring communities have been at war for about five decades over a vast fertile land known as Elueke, with many lives lost and properties worth billions of naira destroyed.

The situation forced Governor Francis Nwifuru to declare the disputed land a buffer zone and set up a committee to solve the crisis.

Commenting on the crisis, a social media critic, Mr. Nwoba Chika Nwoba, told TheNigerian Metro on Tuesday that he had written to the governor to urgently end the conflict.

According to him, “I got information that these aged persons were killed in the fight between Ishiagu and Akaeze today in Ivo LGA of Ebonyi State.

“I had written twice earlier that the governor, Francis Nwifuru, should do something urgently to bring this to a halt, but I’m not sure he has done anything obvious to end the feud.

“I’m still calling on the governor to do something to end this lest it becomes too difficult to handle.

“Every life matters, stakeholders of these two towns should join hands and get this unnecessary bloodshed quenched.”

When our correspondent contacted the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, SP Joshua Ukandu, on Tuesday, he said he had yet to receive a report of the recent killings in the area.

The immediate-past Acting Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ebonyi State, Barr. Ifeanyi Nworie, alongside his supporters has dumped the PDP and joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State.

Welcoming Barr. Nworie to the party during a civic reception organised in his honour by the people of Ezza South local government area, the State Chairman of the APC, Chief Stanley Emegha called for continued support for the state governor to achieve his dreams and agenda for the people of Ebonyi State.

He said crisis and bitterness does no man any good, adding that he has also approached the governorship candidate of the opposition PDP in the 2023 general election, Mr. Ifeanyichukwuma Odii to join hands with Governor Francis Nwifuru to move the state forward.

Emegha urged the Ezza South local government party chairman and other stakeholders of the party to ensure that those who joined the party are all accommodated and carried along in the activities of the party.

He maintained that the APC is a disciplined party, and urged the defectors to be mindful of their action while warning against acts that would bring crisis within the party.

Chairman of Ezza South local government area, Mrs. Euphemia Nwali said that the development stride of Governor Nwifuru since the inception of his administration has continued to attract people from the opposition parties to the APC.

She maintained that the people have witnessed the transformation and the laudable achievements of the Governor, assuring that Nwifuru will continue to ensure an open-door policy.

In his response, Barr. Nworie who spoke on behalf of other defectors said he did not join the APC because of the crisis in PDP, he however promised to join hands with the state government to move the state forward.

Nworie assured that he will not be a party to fractionalization of the party, noting that his dream is to see the party win all elective positions in the 2027 general election.

A non-governmental organisation, Oganihu Ebonyi, has opposed Governor Francis Nwifuru’s religious subsidy policy in the state, describing it as a misappropriation of resources and grand plans for economic sabotage.

Oganihu Ebonyi, a group of patriotic professionals who passionately promote the success, sustainable progress, and development of Ebonyi State, said it is absurd that a state with the highest rate of poverty in the Southeast spends billions of naira sponsoring select individuals to travel around the world to worship their God.

In a statement signed by the director of research and publications, Ani, Nwachukwu Agwu and Charles Otu, director of media and communications, and made available to LEADERSHIP, the group stated that it is a crime against humanity for a government that claims to have the interest of Ebonyians at heart to engage in such frivolities at the expense of investment in security and protection, basic education, primary healthcare coverage, child and maternal care, rural access roads, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs)

The group noted with concern that Ebonyi State is one of the states that devote a substantial part of its public expenditures to religious subsidy, to the detriment of critical investments in primary economic growth and development drivers.

 

They added that during this period of extreme economic hardship, famine, and mass poverty caused by broad macroeconomic volatilities, hyperinflation, and the inability of state and local governments to pay workers’ salaries, they view religious subsidy as the highest level of economic prodigality.

 

 

The statement read in part: “We identify with Ebonyians in the public outrage generated by the Ebonyi State government’s policy of spending N551.5 million subsidising the 2025 Hajj.

 

When combined with the amount appropriated for Christian pilgrimages and other state-sponsored religious excursions, religious subsidies run into billions of naira and consume a significant percentage of the state’s annual appropriation laws.

 

“Relatedly, the recent spate of violent attacks on rural communities such as the Nkalaha community in Ishielu local council, where bandits destroyed properties.

 

A social accountability group, Association of Ebonyi Indigenes Socio-Cultural in the Diaspora (AEISCID) has warned Ebonyi State government under Governor Francis Nwifuru to back-track from its proposal to spend a whooping N551m of tax-payers’ money on Islamic pilgrimage for 46 Muslims in the state despite severe economic hardships faced by the common citizens.

In a statement released in Abuja on Monday, the AEISCID President (World-wide), Paschal Oluchukwu, described the decision as reckless, urging the “Ebonyi State House of Assembly to immediately commence the process of removing the Governor from office if he goes ahead to approve the said sum just for patronage of any religion whatsoever.”

According to Oluchukwu, “Ebonyians woke up over the weekend to a press release made by the State’s Commissioner for Information, Engr. Jude Okpor wherein he dutifully informed the public about the outcome of the weekly State Executive Council meeting presided over by the Governor.

The group quoted the resolutions of the State Exco thus: “Nigeria is a secular state, and Ebonyi under the pragmatic leadership of His Excellency, the Governor, has not only become a peaceful home for all where religious tolerance is encouraged but also seen practised.

 

“In practical exhibition of this government’s disposition and intention, EXCO approved the release of the total sum of Five Hundred and Fifty-One Million, Five Hundred and Two Thousand Naira, Eighty-four kobo (N551,502,142.84) only for the sponsorship of forty-six (46) prospective pilgrims for the 2025 Hajj activities. This is to the financial implication of (N8,784,085.59) only per beneficiary in the said package.

“EXCO also resolved to ask all the council chairmen to consider the sponsorship of one (1) person in each of the council areas in the 2025 Hajj to broaden indigenes’ participation”, he had added.

But, reacting to the development, AEISCID asked the state government to immediately rescind the decision and apologise to the poor masses for even contemplating what it described as frivolity.

 

The statement said: “No such financial provision from our records was made in the budget estimate of the 2025 fiscal year of the government passed into law by the State’s House of Assembly in December last year.

 

“This is not only an abuse of public office but a gross violation of Section 120 (subsections 3 and 4) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended). The laws of the land is clear in subsection 3 that; ‘No moneys shall be withdrawn from any public fund of the State, other than the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the State, unless the issue of those moneys has been authorized by a law of the House of Assembly of the State_ . Subsection 4 also aptly reiterates; _”No moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the State or any other public fund of the State except in the manner prescribed by the House of Assembly.’

 

“As the poorest ranked State in Southern Nigeria, Ebonyi government should ordinarily channel all its efforts and energies towards ridding the impoverished _Salt of the nation_ of it’s economic woes and poverty. It sounds astonishingly strange that the same Exco on the same day approved only but a paltry sum of N300M for the purposes of ’empowering’ some 300 Ebonyians in a first item in it’s resolutions which it termed: ‘HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT.”

 

While condemning the government’s decision further, the group said: “We charge Nwifuru to immediately spend the resources earmarked for a frivolous religious jamboree that has no economic benefit for the State to offset the outstanding debts of the poor UBEB teachers in the State some of whom have been owed since October last year.

 

“It is ridiculous that in our present harsh economic realities, Ebonyi State government is pretending to have provided only N3M for it’s tax-paying indigenes for the purposes of establishing farms whereas, the same government is proposing to spend the sum of N551M for 46 Hajj pilgrims amounting to over N8M for each Islamic religious adherent benefactor. We condemn this in its entirety and ask the government to rescind the decision without further hesitation or even explanation. Failure to so do, we urge the 24 members of the State’s House of Assembly to commence an impeachment process against Governor Nwifuru,

 

“This body views the current anti-people’s disposition of the Governor and indeed, the government towards free speech on the Social media platforms as dangerously preposterous especially in a democratic society like Nigeria. For all we know, Ebonyi cannot operate a law outside the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and we cannot recall a passage of any cybercrime law by the National Assembly- the very reason Justice Limman of the Abakaliki Federal High Court had vehemently upheld the prayers of a victim of the law who sought for interpretation of the Court.

 

“Finally, AEISCID condemns the frittering and wasting of Ebonyi tax-payers money by the Governor on politicians and appointees and the utter abandonment of his so-called “People’s Charter of Needs” agenda to chase shadows and please some unknown forces while the masses languish in abject penury. As we speak, teachers in public Schools in the State are owed four months salaries that have led the NUT to declare a strike in seven out of out of 13 Local Government Areas in the state.”

The death toll in the invasion of Amagu and two other villages, in Nkalaha community in the Ishielu local Government Area of Ebonyi State by suspected Fulani herdsmen, has risen to 15 while many people are still missing in the area, TheNigerian Metro learnt on Tuesday.

Suspected armed herdsmen had, on Sunday morning, invaded the community, killing 10 people and burning houses.

However, recent findings revealed that more dead bodies were recovered in the bushes around the area while some natives still went missing in the affected villages.

The Ebonyi State Deputy Governor, Princess Patricia Obila, who visited the community on Tuesday, gave a 24-hour ultimatum to security agencies in the state to fish out the suspected killers who killed the innocent citizens in three villages of Nkalaha community.

Princess Obila, who represented Governor Francis Nwifuru, said the state government was very shocked and saddened over the incident.

She said, “No government is happy to see their citizens being killed in a bloody manner.  This is a horrific scene to behold. If you look at those corpses, they are a younger generation that were lost.

“What happens to their children and what happens to their families? Why do you terminate lives that you can’t create? It is too bad. I’m sounding a warning to all the youth leaders of this community. All of you should sit up, I didn’t say that you should sit up to go and fight but to make peace and love in harmony.

”Many people died for not knowing what was happening. I’m telling you the truth. Many of the corpses lying there did not know what was happening.

“I am giving this community three days to go into fasting and prayers, for God to come and sanctify this community. There is nothing that God cannot do.”

She thanked the security agencies in the state for their efforts, noting that without their intervention, the casualty would have been more than the figure seen, saying, “The killers must be brought to book. I order you to fish them (the killers) out within 24 hours.”

The traditional ruler of Nkalaha community, Igwe Thompson  Ebe, said, “I had written a report to the governor and copied security agencies, because the problem started on January 20, up till January 31, 2025.

“We have continued to mediate between the Agila in Benue State and the Fulani herdsmen. I even invited them to my house in Abakaliki to talk to them about their cows that were allegedly killed. We have even made some arrests to ensure that the perpetrators are apprehended. As we are still talking, this ugly incident of killings took place on Sunday.

“The herdsmen attacked a total of three villages; Amagu, Amaokwe and Umunesha. We are still recovering the bodies of the casualties. Now, the number has increased to 15, and we are looking for two others.”

Suspected herdsmen, on Sunday, attacked Amegu village, Nkalaha community in the Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State killing several residents and setting houses ablaze.

The assault is believed to be a reprisal following the reported killing of cattle belonging to herdsmen in the area.

Confirming the attack to TheNigerian Metro, a native of the area, Prof. Ndubuisi Idenyi, said the assailants stormed the village in the wee hours of Sunday, unleashing violence that left many dead and property worth billions of naira destroyed.

“I don’t have the number of casualties right now. We are still tracking and bringing out the dead bodies especially those killed in the farms”, he said.

Another source said a pastor of a Pentecostal church in the area was among those killed in the attack.

The source, who pleaded anonymity for fear of being traced, said the community members were not responsible for the killing of the cows.

“We did not kill their cows. The cows were killed by members of the Eastern Security Network in the forest.”

The Chairperson of Isheilu Local Government Area, Mrs Ifeoma Peace Agwu, confirmed the incident to TheNigerian Metro when contacted.

She said, “We are taking the victims’ bodies to the mortuary right now. I cannot talk much about it now. We will give more details later.”

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Joshua Ukandu, however, said he was not aware of the incident when our contact sought his reaction, as of the time of filing this report on Sunday.

The death toll in the Wednesday accident involving some prospective members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has risen to three.

The accident, which involved an Enugu North Mass Transit bus boarded by the prospective NYSC members going to their orientation camp, ran into a stationary truck within the Okposi axis in Ohaozara LGA of Eboyin State, resulting in the loss of lives and injuries.

Prospective Corps Member Dies, Others Injured In Ebonyi Accident

One prospective female corps member was said to have died on the spot while other injured passengers were rushed to the David Umahi Federal University Teaching Hospital Uburu (DUFUTH) for treatment.

A statement from the tertiary hospital published on its Facebook page on Friday morning said the death toll had risen by two.

“The DUFUTH’s prompt response in providing critical care to the accident victims was critical in stabilizing them. The feat was made possible by the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Professor Uzoma Agwu, who physically mobilized all clinical staff to attend to the victims, ensuring the availability of necessary drugs and consumables,” it said.

The statement signed by the spokesperson of the Hospital, Mr. Agwu Nwogo, said 13 victims were rushed to the hospital around 3pm on Wednesday, thanks to the prompt response of military personnel, officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), and other good Samaritans.

“Upon arrival, two victims succumbed to their injuries, two were transferred to the surgical ward, while the others were admitted to the accident and emergency ward.

“Notably, one corps member escaped without injuries, while the driver sustained severe cervical injuries.”

The statement put the total number of deaths from the accident at three of which two were prospective corps members.

“The survivors are now recuperating, and hospital officials are optimistic about their chances of making a full recovery,” the statement said.

The statement further revealed that Mrs. Olaide Foluke, the NYSC State Coordinator, earlier on Thursday led a team to the Chief Medical Director of DUFUTH, in company of the camp commandant, to ascertain the condition of those hospitalised and to appreciate the hospital team.

During a similar interaction involving the C-MAC, Dr. Darlington-Peter Ugoji, the NYSC Coordinator and the National Health Insurance Agency (NHIA) heads in DUFUTH, concerns were raised about the victims’ medical bills.

However, it was ascertained that the prospective corps members automatically qualify for National Health Insurance scheme benefits upon receiving their call-up letters.

Mrs. Eucharia Eze of the NHIA section also promised to liaise with the HMO to cover the victims’ medical expenses, with the NYSC covering 50% of CT scan costs and the Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) covering the remaining 50%

The corps members were heading to the NYSC orientation camp for their three-week orientation course when the 14-seater bus they were in rammed into a parked truck.

They are part of the 2024 Batch C Stream 2 corps members posted to serve in the state and were heading to the MacGregor College Permanent Orientation camp in Afikpo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.