The immediate past Liaison Officer 1 of Ibaji Local Government Area of Kogi State, Mr. David Ogu, tells SUCCESS NWOGU, that Kogi communities are ready to live in peace with its neighbouring communities
What is the cause of the dispute between people in Odeke and Echeno communities of Ibaji Local Government Area of Kogi State and the Aguleri-Otu community in Anambra East LG?
All over the world, conflicts have always been centered on economic resources. Where there are resources, there are likely to be interests and when there are interests, people will have demands and want those demands met.
The availability of crude oil in the community is the cause of the dispute. When there are natural resources anywhere, everybody in the area will want to benefit from such resources. Oil is a major issue in Nigeria because the country’s economy largely depends on oil. There is this believe that wherever oil is found, the area will get more allocation from the Federal Government. So, when money is involved, people are bound to disagree. But I believe that we don’t have to disagree. If there is a better understanding, all the communities can benefit.
The Kogi State Governor, Capt. Idris Wada (retd.) and his Anambra State counterpart, Mr. Peter Obi, recently signed a communiqué after their meeting on the disputed area. How do you view the actions of these governors?
I know that the Governor of Kogi State has always toed the path of peace. Last year October, the Kogi State government issued a statement calling on all indigenes of the state, particularly those living around the borders to ensure that they live peacefully and harmoniously with their neighbours from Anambra and Enugu states.
The governor said the issue could be settled amicably despite the economic interest involved. He believes that there is no point for people living around the border communities to be enemies. Many of them have inter-married; some of them even speak the same dialect. There are quite a good number of indigenes of Anambra and Kogi states that speak Igala. If you go to Enugu State, you will find Igbos who speak Igala. This is made possible because of the common boundary, which these states share. Our people also have a lot of business interests in the East, particularly Onitsha, Awka, Asaba, Enugu and some other places. Our people have always been peaceful. There is no record to show that any community in Kogi has attacked any of its neighbouring communities. We have always lived peacefully with our neighbours.
The dispute first started in 1996 and it was caused by people who want to become wealthy overnight. But we are not interested in fighting anybody because it is in the interest of the communities to adjust and live peacefully with one another. That is the position of my people.
Since you insist that your people are peaceful, who are those causing the problem?
If you check the records, most of the attacks are from the other side.
You mean the Aguleri-Otu people?
Yes. They have always attacked us. If you look at their history, they have a penchant for struggles. That is part of their history. But in our area, we do not engage in strife or war. We have never fought any community over farmland or waterway. So, the presence of crude oil cannot be an exception. We can never go to war over crude oil, which is a God-given resource. It is not in our character to fight our neighbours.
There was a time, we had a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan over this issue and it was agreed that no community should either engage in violence or press war. The reason I granted this interview is because Governor Idris Wada and his Anambra counterpart, Mr. Peter Obi, had made statements on the crisis where they resolved to handle the matter.
What are the steps that should be taken to avert more crises?
There is no doubt that the Federal Government has a role play in resolving the dispute. The first thing to be done is that the area should be declared as a buffer section. The government should demarcate the area. It must put its feet on the ground and tell the parties that this is a buffer area.
There should also be enough security agents in the area while the parties continue to dialogue. I assure you that it is very easy to convince our people that dialogue and not violence, is the solution. People from the Anambra area should also organise themselves and be ready to dialogue. Credible people, people with integrity and not politicians should part of the dialogue if the dispute is to be settled. People who will be objective and not those who will instigate one community against the other should be involved in the dialogue.
People who have influence in their communities must not encourage violence. These are the things we should collectively address. I do not know the position of the people of Anambra on the dispute but we have always maintained that we can live peacefully with our neighbours.
Since the dispute started, has there been loss of human lives or destruction of property?
I can only say that there have been casualties. There have been instances where people from Anambra either attacked or attempted to attack people in Kogi communities. There have been cases where guns were fired into people’s farms. This creates tension along the border communities.
To avert this tension, government should deploy enough security agents in the area. Once we have security agents there, people will not be crossing from one community to another to cause trouble and create panic in the area. Once this is done, we will not record casualties from either side.
The Director-General of National Border Commission, Dr. Mohammed Ahmad, had said the commission would demarcate the disputed area. Do you think that can bring peace?
That is the directive of the Federal Government. Some processes and meetings have been held following President Goodluck Jonathan’s directive that the area should be demarcated. It was at the point of carrying out the President’s directive that some persons decided to create tension so that the area will not be demarcated. That was what led to the problem.
As former liaison officer of Ibaji, what are some of the efforts the LG made to ensure that the matter did not degenerate to this level?
At our level, we had meetings with traditional rulers and relevant stakeholders and stressed the importance of peaceful co-existence. Even though our people are being provoked, we told them not to respond to the provocation.
About two or three weeks ago, when the directive of the President was to be carried out, some people from Anambra decided to raise the false alarm that their houses were burnt by our people so that this will thwart what the National Border Commission wanted to do. This was part of their game plan.
I must reiterate that the people at the border share common affinity. We share common language. We fish together and farm together. We share the same natural environment and many of us have inter-married. I do not see any reason for friction if people have the fear of God. Farmland, and fishpond cannot put us asunder. We must caution people who do not have understanding. We should live in peace and enjoy what God has endowed us with. Our people will continue to remain peaceful. There is no amount of provocation at the moment that will make us to retaliate. That notwithstanding, there must be efforts to protect the lives of people and property at the border communities. People who are involved in the security or other peace processes must not be biased or do anything that will create tension in the area at any point in time. People should desist from making inflammatory statements. We must not engage in press wars.
