Ebonyi Community Fumes Over Release Of 31 Murder Suspects By Umahi

The people of Ezza-Effium, in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, have condemned the decision of the Governor, David Umahi, to release the 31 individuals arrested by soldiers at the peak of the crisis.

On Tuesday, the Ebonyi government said it has pardoned and will release 31 under-aged detainees at the correctional service remand home over their alleged involvement in the Ezza-Effium conflict.

Ezza-Effium Consultative Assembly described the development as “unfortunate” adding that the crisis in the area has been politicized.

In a statement signed by Aligwe Mathias Chukwuma and  Bernard Orichi; the chairman and Secretary of the assembly respectively, the community said that "the aggressors have been making every effort to frame every Ezza man either of Ezza-Effium origin or elsewhere into the crisis.”

The Assembly in a statement issued on Tuesday wondered why a priest of the Catholic Church will still be in detention while the government goes ahead to release accused killers arrested in various parts of Effium while carrying out the directives of their paymasters.

Part of the statement reads, 'It is rather very unfortunate that everything has been politicized in this crisis between Ezza-Effium and Uffiom people as the aggressors have been making every effort to frame every Ezza man either of Ezza-Effium origin or elsewhere into the crisis.

“Recall that Reverend Father Timothy Ngwuta was arrested on the 11th of December 2021, by police when he went to Nworie Mbeke Ishieke to see his parishioners taking refuge in the area. He was searched and nothing was fine with him but because he is from the Ezza-Effium community, he was later on taken to the state command headquarters for further interrogation from where everything was twisted, framed up and detained. 

"All efforts made to get him out were proved abortive as the state government ordered that he should not be released. Instead, the government arraigned this innocent young man in court with the following counts charges of murder of the missing NELAN Engineers, kidnapping and promoting communal war thereby making it difficult to grant him bail.

“Yesterday, the state government rising from its Exco meeting, announced the release of some armed youths of Uffiom extraction arrested by security operatives on different occasions in the warring zone of Effium Community.

"According to the Commissioner for Information, Uchenna Orjor, the said youths who are minors were brainwashed into carrying arms. But the questions left unanswered are; who recruited those youths to carry weapons? Who are those that brainwashed them? and who are the people making case for them? Since the government has just woken up to discover that the armed youths that have killed our people are minors, what efforts have been made to arrest their sponsors.

“That the continued incarceration of Rev Fr. Timothy Ngwuta is unwarranted, this innocent Priest has nothing to do with the crisis in Effium except the fact that he is an Ezza man.

“That we demand the prosecution of those individuals who the governor has severally accused to have been the cause of the crisis in Affirm.

“It will be a grave injustice to have allowed the individuals who were accused of being responsible for the crisis to walk freely whereas an innocent Priest is languishing in prison."