Calm has returned to seven warring communities after no fewer than 23 persons were feared dead with several others injured in an attacks in Ovia South West Local Government of Edo.
Spokesman of the police command in Edo Sate, Moses Yamu, said on Sunday, that operatives of the Iguobazuwa Police Division, in collaboration with the Nigerian Army and the local Vigilantes had intervened.
Yamu disclosed that the police had evacuated the casualties to the hospital, stating that investigation into the cause of the clash has equally commenced.
He said; “The joint operation has restored peace to the communities.“The Commissioner of Police, CP Betty Otimenyin, has vowed that no stone would be left unturned in order to unravel the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate and avoidable incident,” he said.
9News Nigeria reports that the affected communities included Marindoti, Gbelemontin Domiju, Kola Village, Taiye Camp, Eto Camp, Dipe Community, Bala Dele Community, and Thousand Community.
The settlements were predominantly inhabited by farmers from various ethnic backgrounds, including Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, and Benin, as eyewitnesses reported that the assailants, believed to be militants from nearby creeks, stormed the settlements early on February 21, shooting indiscriminately, setting houses ablaze, and other properties.
According to local reports, the onslaught forced residents to flee en masse, abandoning their homes and livelihoods, with one of the witnesses described the attacks as a reprisal for the killing of a suspected cocoa thief by local vigilantes employed by the farmers.
This incident escalated existing tensions between the farmers and the alleged militants, who had previously been accused of encroaching on farmlands and stealing produce.
Meanwhile, reporters who visited the scene, however, observed a mass exodus of displaced persons carrying their belongings, seeking refuge in safer areas, stressing that many homes were reduced to ashes, and the once-thriving farming communities now resembled ghost towns.
Speaking with reporters, the head of Marindoti community, Igbala Obazuaye, said they had been farming in the area for years, but trouble started for them when some youth began to demand for royalties from them.
Obazuaye, who sustained bullet wounds, said the assailants evaded the community around 8 a.m killing seven persons in his community alone, expressing that the assailants burnt cocoa, kola nut and cash crops worth more than N20 million.
He, therefore appealed for the establishment of a police station, and assistance in rebuilding their communities.
“It started in 1998 when some youths began encroaching on our land, stealing our crops, and kidnapping our people, notwithstanding the payment of the royalties,” he said.
