By Magnus Aluma, Abakaliki
A High Court sitting in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, on Friday, arraigned 33 suspects over the lingering war between the Amasiri and Edda communities in Affikpo and Edda Local Government Areas of Ebonyi State.
The suspects, who are all indigenes of the area, were arraigned on four-count charges related to murder. They include: Geoffrey Onya, Idam Bassey, who are traditional rulers, and Baron Anya, the Coordinator of Amasiri development center.
Others are; Emmanuel Ngwoke, Samuel Eni, Eze Ekeocha, Chukwudi Nwachinemre, Chukwuemeka Ifesinachi, Emmanuel Ogbonnaya, Oko Julius, Uchendu Eze, and Sunday Eburu, among others. The suspects were accused of killing Kalu Dick, Ifeoma Oduko Uduma,
Anthony Ekumankama and Eze Orji Ndukwe in Okporojo, Oso Edda, Edda Local Government Area of the state on 29th January 2026, punishable under section 319(1) of the criminal code law cap 33 vol 1. laws of Ebonyi state 2009.
After the four-count charges were read to their hearing, the suspects who had taken a plea during the arraignment pleaded not guilty to the charges. Their defence counsel, Chief Mudi Erhenede made an oral application for the bail of the traditional rulers; Geoffrey Onya, Bassey Idam, Baron Anya, the Coordinator of Amasiri Development Center, and two women among them.
He urged the court to grant the five accused persons bail first because of their personalities, while the rest will come later.
Erhenede argued that the five accused persons have been in prison custody for five months and that the police had made recommendations for their release. But counsel to the government, Chinyere Anoke, who held brief for the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Dr. Ben Odo, opposed the application.
She argued that the accused persons were facing murder charges and that it was unusual for persons facing murder charges to be released.
The trial judge, Justice Emmanuel Ogbunnefi, adjourned the matter to 5th and 17th June to enable the counsel to the accused persons to come up with a written application for bail to rule on it.
NewsBits reports that the people of Amasiri and Oso Edda have been at war for decades over land.
Recall that the crisis escalated on January 29, 2026, when suspected warlords invaded Okporojo and beheaded four persons in the community, including an elderly woman, while houses and other property worth millions of naira were burnt during the invasion.
