An interest group in Effium Community, Ohaukwu local government area of Ebonyi State, under the aegis of Effium Rescue Mission Group ERMG, has condemned what it described as a ‘State-Backed Dispossession and Cultural Erasure of Indigenous Effium Natives.’
The Effium Rescue Mission Group (ERMG) strongly condemned what it described as the systematic renaming, distortion, and attempted erasure of 172 ancient villages and landmarks belonging to the indigenous Effium people through the controversial Ebonyi State Law No. 004 of 2025 titled:
“Ebonyi State Effium and Alioma Peace Pact, Creation of Effium, Ekereigwe, Ijem, Alioma and Ezekuna Alioma Autonomous Communities and Land Demarcation Law, 2025.”
According to ERMG, the law unlawfully created and recognized newly concocted village identities under the so-called Alioma and Ezekuna Alioma Autonomous Communities purportedly for Ezza settlers resident in Effium land, while simultaneously suppressing and replacing long-established Effium ancestral villages, cultural identities, and indigenous locational names that have existed for generations.
The group also described the development as a dangerous precedent capable of legitimizing cultural extinction, political domination, and territorial dispossession against indigenous populations under the cover of state legislation.
They stated that the indigenous Effium people reject any attempt by political actors or external interests to use state machinery to rewrite the history, geography, and ancestral heritage of Effium land merely to satisfy the expansionist interests of settlers at the expense of native rights.
Speaking on behalf of the organization, human rights activist, Emmanuel Acha averred that, “No government has the moral or legal authority to erase the ancient identity, ancestral landmarks, and native villages of the Effium people simply to advance the political interests of settlers. What is happening under this law amounts to state-backed cultural erasure and territorial manipulation against an indigenous people who have no other ancestral homeland outside Effium.”
Acha posited that the Effium people will vigorously challenge every aspect of the law and any associated actions aimed at dispossessing natives of their ancestral inheritance.
“The Effium people shall pursue all lawful and constitutional means available, including litigation before competent courts, national advocacy, and international human rights engagement, to resist any attempt to forcefully alter our identity, confiscate our heritage, or suppress our indigenous existence.”
He pointed out that historical records, customary institutions, ancestral boundaries, and prior findings from peace and inquiry processes already acknowledged the indigenous ownership status of the Effium people and recognized the settler status of Ezza occupants in Effium.
He noted that, “True peace comes through justice, truth, and mutual respect — not through the political rewriting of native history.”
On behalf of ERMG, Acha therefore called on the Ebonyi State Government to immediately suspend implementation of all disputed provisions relating to the renamed villages and land demarcations; civil society organizations, human rights institutions, and international observers to monitor developments surrounding the contested law; traditional institutions and stakeholders to resist politically motivated attempts to erase indigenous identities for temporary political convenience and the judiciary to protect constitutional guarantees relating to indigenous rights, cultural identity, fair hearing, and property ownership.
