The enchantment was contained in a proper petition dated October 11, 2026, addressed to the governor by the Ojiegbe Development Association via its president, Mr Nicholas Orogwu, on behalf of the community.
In the petition, the community recommended Governor Nwifuru and his deputy, Princess Patricia Obila, for his or her current intervention within the reported misunderstanding involving Ojiegbe and Aguotu communities.
According to the petition, following the peaceable decision of an earlier communal disaster involving Ojiegbe, Obeagu and Mgbalukwu communities, some Ojiegbe indigenes who had relocated to Aguotu started returning to their ancestral properties.
The affiliation disclosed that solely about 10 per cent of the affected inhabitants had returned, explaining that those that got here again had merely commenced the reclamation and cultivation of their ancestral lands and financial bushes belonging to particular person households.
It maintained that these properties shouldn’t be mistaken for communal lands or interpreted as proof of a boundary dispute with Aguotu.
On the executive query, Ojiegbe recalled that Governor Nwifuru allegedly issued a directive in 2024 that Ojiegbe folks in Isu, Onicha LGA, and Aguotu folks in Ishielu LGA ought to be introduced collectively below Ishielu Local Government Area for administrative comfort, citing their frequent Ogboji and Ezza identification and historic relationship.
The community lamented that the directive had but to be applied and appealed to the governor to make sure its execution.
It additionally known as for an neutral investigation and rapid geographical and historic demarcation of the boundary between Ojiegbe and Obeagu Isu to get rid of uncertainty and facilitate the secure return of displaced residents.
Another main demand within the petition is the creation of an autonomous community for Ojiegbe.
The affiliation argued that Ojiegbe possesses a definite historic identification, ancestral heritage, inhabitants and conventional establishments, claiming that its folks have maintained their identification and occupied their ancestral homeland for greater than 200 years.
It mentioned autonomous standing would strengthen conventional administration, protect cultural heritage, encourage grassroots improvement and supply an institutional framework for peaceable coexistence with neighbouring communities.
The affiliation additionally raised issues in regards to the dealing with of the matter by the Ministry of Border Peace and Conflict Resolution, alleging that Commissioner Prof. Paul Awo Nwobashi might need introduced an inaccurate account of the scenario to the deputy governor.
It recalled submitting an earlier protest letter to the governor over what it described as an try and painting Ojiegbe folks as tenants on land their ancestors had occupied for generations.
The community consequently urged the governor to research the knowledge introduced to his administration and be certain that its recognised representatives had been immediately consulted earlier than selections affecting its future had been taken.
Among different calls for, Ojiegbe desires authorities safety of its ancestral lands and particular person properties, the secure return of displaced indigenes, and assurances that administrative or safety selections is not going to generate contemporary communal tensions.
The community, nevertheless, burdened that it was not concerned with confrontation with neighbouring communities, insisting that its calls for had been rooted in justice, historic recognition and peaceable coexistence.
It maintained that sustainable peace may solely be achieved when historic grievances had been pretty addressed and the rights of all affected communities revered.
The petition concluded with an enchantment to Governor Nwifuru to intervene decisively, expressing confidence in his administration’s dedication to battle decision and harmonious coexistence throughout Ebonyi State.
The governor’s response to the particular calls for contained within the petition was not included within the doc made obtainable for this report.
