LG chairman threatens resignation as man beheaded in Ebonyi

A gruesome killing has rocked Oso Edda community in Ebonyi State, where a middle-aged farmer, identified as Dick Nnachi, was reportedly beheaded by suspected armed men.

The attack happened on Thursday while Nnachi was working on his farm, and his severed head has yet to be recovered.

The chairman of Edda Local Government Area, Chima Ekumankama, disclosed the incident during the weekend at the community’s New Yam Festival. A minute of silence was held at Nguzu Edda Community Primary School in honour of the slain farmer.

Visibly shaken, Ekumankama decried the persistent bloodshed and warned he may step down from office if the killings continue. He called on Governor Francis Nwifuru to urgently establish a military and police presence in the troubled area.

“Sometimes I just feel like resigning to go back to my business just because each time I see the blood of an Edda man dropped on the floor, it pains me; it makes me very uncomfortable and very sad,”

Ekumankama said.“If there is any day you hear that I have resigned, know that this is the reason I have to resign. I am seriously pained, Your Excellency.“If it is possible, Your Excellency, let us have the army, police, and every other security apparatus in Oso Edda so that we can protect our people.“Our people are being slaughtered, and each time they cry to me, I shed tears, I also cry. Your Excellency, I am appealing to you to please do something, please, Your Excellency, do something.

“We don’t want spilling of blood anymore. Every year, I organise prayer for cleansing of the land, and the enemies will always do that, which is not needed. We will do the prayer again to cleanse the one they have just done, but we don’t want the killings to continue.“Your Excellency, please, this is the only appeal I have to make today. Do something, Your Excellency, we don’t want to lose any other soul again, all because of the crisis between Oso Edda and Amasiri,” he told Governor Francis Nwifuru, represented at the event by the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Moses Odunwa.

Police spokesman SP Joshua Ukandu confirmed the incident, saying officers have been deployed to the disputed area. He urged residents to avoid the buffer zone demarcated by security agencies to forestall more casualties.

The Oso Edda and Amasiri communities in Afikpo Local Government Area have been locked in a violent land feud for years, with successive administrations struggling to end the conflict.