IYANOMO – The lingering boundary dispute between the three autonomous communities of Iyanomo,Obaretin and Agbonmwonba in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo State has assumed a frightening dimension, as 18 persons have reportedly lost their lives, buildings razed, property worth millions of Naira destroyed and many residents declared missing, while others are severely injured in the renewed fracas that occurred on Friday June 28, 2019.
The NIGERIAN OBSERVER investigation revealed that some residents of Iyanomo were allegedly attacked by their neighbouring Obaretin youths, following the unresolved boundary dispute which had pitched both communities against each other for some years running now.
In the wake of the attack on Iyanomo community, it was gathered that some houses and vehicles belonging to residents were set ablaze, while several persons were killed, many others injured and hundreds displaced and rendered homeless.
When The NIGERIAN OBSERVER visited the scene of the incident, relics of destructions, smouldering vehicles and buildings were sighted, while residents were fleeing from the communities in their numbers to avoid being killed by the fiery, gun-wielding youths; some of whom also armed themselves with cutlasses and other dangerous weapons to launch reprisal attacks on the youths from the neighbouring communities.
Some residents who narrated their ordeal to newsmen decried the level of wanton destruction in the communities and called on the police authorities and the Edo State Government to come to their rescue to restore law and order to their communities.
A 34-year old resident, Mr. Ezegbe Wesley Aifuwa, who was mercilessly beaten and severely injured ,said his own father, Pa Felix Aifuwa was set ablaze in his car by hoodlums during the fracas and their house completely destroyed.
He lamented that his siblings, Faith 22, Loveth, 19, Lucky , 24, Stanley 30, Alvin 34 and Desmond 35 have all been rendered homeless, stressing that as at press time the whereabouts of his elder brother, Desmond Uhunoma Aifuwa could not be ascertained as all efforts to locate him since the crisis began yielded no results.
Meanwhile, men of the Edo State Police Command have been drafted to the feuding communities to restore law and order.
A statement by the Police Public Relations Officer, Edo State Command, DSP Chidi Nwabuzor however, confirmed that about 18 persons have lost their lives in the crisis, some have been declared missing, several houses destroyed and vehicles burnt, assuring that the Command had commenced investigation and was on the trail of the perpetrators of the dastardly act, with a view to bring them to book.
It appealed to members of the public who have useful information on the alleged missing persons to report to the nearest police station as the Command was prepared to do all within its powers to restore normalcy to the trouble’s communities.
