Leaders allege arbitrary arrests, destruction of property, and forced displacement, calling for urgent intervention and restoration of peace.
By Joy Onu
The Amasiri community of Ebonyi State has accused Governor Francis Winfuru of orchestrating a deliberate clampdown on its people, following alleged unverified claims linking the community to a murder in Edda Local Government Area.Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, 5 February 2026, Princess Joy Omagha Idam said the governor’s actions have escalated into a full-scale military siege, mass arrests, and destruction of property.
“We do not understand what crime our people have committed,” Princess Idam said. “Even students attending Ebonyi State University are being denied access to classrooms, civil servants are facing verbal termination, and traditional rulers have been arrested. The governor has taken steps that amount to collective punishment against an entire community.”
The Amasiri Clan, made up of three autonomous communities in the northernmost part of what was formerly Afikpo North Local Government Area, claims that the State House of Assembly recently passed a bill delineating Amasiri as a development centre, detaching it from its historical administrative status and placing it under a joint arrangement with four other local government areas. Princess Idam described this as a political move aimed at erasing the community’s identity.
According to the community, military forces carried out what they described as an unprovoked operation, resulting in the arrest of more than 30 youths, destruction of homes, burning of harvested rice, and attacks on cultural sites. “Women engaged in peaceful protests were fired upon,” she said, “and one woman died from gunshot wounds to the head. Our people are being treated as if we are barbarians, when we have never committed acts of violence.”
Princess Idam also highlighted longstanding grievances, including abductions and killings of community members on their farmlands, and repeated petitions to government authorities since 2023 over land disputes and safety concerns. She said the community had even withdrawn a court case at the governor’s request, trusting that a boundary demarcation to settle ancestral land claims would follow, but this has not been done.
She added that Amasiri is naturally rich in mineral resources, but stressed that the community has always sought peaceful resolution with neighboring communities over land disputes.
The press conference came in response to what the Amasiri community described as a campaign of intimidation and repression by state authorities. The community is calling for the immediate withdrawal of military forces, reinstatement of its officials, reopening of schools and markets, and establishment of a joint boundary commission to resolve land disputes.
“Our people are law-abiding, peaceful, and hardworking,” Princess Idam said. “We will continue to raise our voices until justice is done.”
