A protracted land dispute between the people of Okete in Ohimini Local Government Area, LGA, of Benue state and the neighbouring community of Otukpo-Nobi in Otukpo LGA over the ownership of
Amla-Icho community land has claimed the lives of a traditional ruler and two others in the feuding communities.
It was gathered that the age long dispute was triggered last week when the Chairman of Otukpo LGA, Alfred Omakwu allegedly sent a bulldozer to the disputed land to enable him commence work on the creation of a layout in the area.
The presence of the earth moving equipment angered the people of Okete who moved to stop the destruction of the cultivated land.
In his account on the incident, the Chairman of Otukpo LGA said “the problem is that the Okete people lost it. It is a dispute between Amla in Otukpo and Okete in Ohimini LGA and a total of three people lost their lives in the crisis.
“What happened was that they (the Okete people) used to go and farm in Amla land but sometimes last year when we wanted to develop a layout there, the Okete people went to report to the Och’Idoma that their farm produce were there and the Och’Idoma directed that no layout should be done until they harvest their products.
“February this year, they harvested their produce and the Och’Idoma called them and informed them that by March this year, Otukpo would go ahead with their layout and that they should not farm there again.
“But when the bulldozers returned they said they had farmed there already and reported the matter to their Second Class Chief as well as their LGA Chairman who called me and I told them that the Och’Idoma asked them not to farm there again because of the layouts.
“So when the bulldozer went there on Friday, they came with their lawyer who called me and I told him everything and said if they want to go to court, it was their right.
“They demanded that the bulldozer stopped work but their lawyer advised that they should wait for him to get an injunction from the court but they said they could not wait.
“They then went to the First class chief of Otukpo/Ohimini who called Och’Idoma and the Och’Idoma said they should not stop the people doing the layout because he asked them not to farm their again.
“At that point they went there and opened fire on the people; they killed one and shot two people and burnt all their motorbikes about 10 of them.
“Then Otukpo retaliated the next day; they also burnt some houses and killed one person and killed another person in Amla making two.
“But we have maintained calm. The Police Commissioner summoned all of us for a peace meeting so we are restoring peace now among both parties. We have agreed that all the culprits will be arrested and brought to book.”
Countering his Otukpo counterpart, the Ohimini LG Chairman, Samson Okoh who also acknowledged that the dispute was over land said “there is a place called Amla, it’s close to Okete. The Otukpo Chairman took the bulldozers to the place where the Okete people used to farm for years and according to him he wanted to do a layout. So he went and destroyed their farm crops.
“When the Okete people demanded an explanation, the Amla people said the land does not belong to the Okete people but to the Amla people.
“According to what I was told, when the argument ensued somehow one of them from Otukpo pulled the trigger and shot but the bullet mistakenly hit a fellow Otukpo person.
“Then on Saturday night the Amla people went and reinforced and barricaded the Okete people, burnt houses, beat up ans killed one boy. And on Sunday around 10am when I went to take the boy they killed to the mortuary, the Alma people went to the place again and burnt 17 houses, burnt motorcycles, slaughtered a Clan Head Chief Sunday Okpe, and shot five other persons who we took to the Teaching Hospital in Otukpo for treatment.”
The Chairman who informed that the community had been deserted said the parties had been summoned by the Police Commissioner over the matter and that efforts were on to apprehend the masterminds of the crisis.
On whether the Paramount ruler of Idoma land, Och’Idoma Agaba-Idu John Odogbo asked his people not to farm on the said land again, the Chairman said, “I am not aware of that but the Otukpo Chairman claimed so. I was not told by the Och’Idoma to tell the people not to farm there.
“Moreover, the Och’Idoma cannot tell the people to stop farming where they have been farming for several years without compensation or settlement and you just take the bulldozer to destroy their crops on the hectares of land they eke a living from.”
Contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent, SP, Catherine Anene who confirmed the development said the command received the report of one death though she was awaiting full details of the incident.