By Solomon Azu, Calabar

If the Federal Government do not urgently step in and put a permanent solution in place, the lingering communal clash between Izzi community in Ebonyi State and Ukelle in Cross River State may take a dangerous dimension.

This is because Ukelle community leaders have debunked reports making the rounds that there is an agreement in place to return Izzi Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Ebonyi to Ukelle in Cross River.

In a statement, the community leaders under Ukelle Ka-Calabar Forum in Cross River State, represented by Rt. Hon. Mom Olom, a former member of the Cross River State House of Assembly, and Isaac Okpokpo, a community leader, dissociated the community from the purported agreement.

According to them, the report by one Amaechi Odo and aired on Radio Nigeria and Unity FM Abakaliki, on the said agreement, is a misrepresentation of the outcome of a meeting between both communities.

The statement read in parts: “At a meeting of the Izzis and Ukelle communities held on March 27, 2025, at the instance of the Cross River/ Ebonyi Youth Peace Development Movement, chaired by Barr. Paschal Nwenyi, it was resolved that both parties would not rest on our oars until lasting peace is enthroned.

“We further resolved that the next meeting be held at the instance of both chairmen of Izzi and Yala Local Government Areas to demonstrate commitment to the pursuit of peace in their domain because of their apparent nonchalant attitude. The meeting was scheduled for the 17th of April 2025 at Mfuma South Ukelle.

“But rather than reflect what truly transpired, the reporter, Ameachi Odo, reported that the meeting was intended to finalise an agreement on the return of the Izzi IDPs to Ukelle land. The report was false, misleading and capable of engendering a feud, as he proposed to gratify his pay master.

“We, therefore, seize this medium to put the record straight that this was never contemplated since we lack the power to grant such a weighty request. Our position, therefore, is to approach the peace matter with utmost decorum, to gradually engage the process at the community, local government and state levels till the National Boundary Commission (NBC) has done the tracing and replacement of removed beacons at the known colonial boundary lines, as succinctly captured by items 6th and 15th of the inaugural communiqué of the peace movement of September 19th 2019 at Abakaliki.

“Consequently, rising from an emergency meeting of Ukelle ka-Calabar forum, the administrative headquarters of Ukelle Worldwide, on the 30th of April 2025, we accordingly resolved that there would be no more such community meetings till further notice, as such meetings tend to inflame tempers and generate needless tension.”

Reacting separately to the ongoing communal crisis between the Izzi people of Ebonyi and the Yala counterparts of Cross River State, Mom Alom, a former member of the Cross River State House of Assembly, stated unequivocally that there is no need for a new boundary between Cross River and Ebonyi states.

Olom insisted that the boundary between both communities, right from the colonial days, is the taperal point of Akparata down south to Ijegibom.

“I’m calling on the National Boundary Commission to do the needful, retrace and replace the beacon stones that have been removed so that at the end of the day, both parties can talk. If they decide to remain in Cross River State, it will be the decision of the local government and the state, but for us as a people, we cannot make such a decision,” he said.

He said before the creation of Ebonyi State, the communities in dispute admitted that though they are from the Izzi race.

He explained that Ebonyi State was not created from Cross River but from Enugu and Anambra states.

Olom disclosed that far back in 1975, the Izzi people acknowledged that they are from Igbo land and promised to live and sink with the Ukelle people despite the state creation.

Recall that Izzi and Ukelle have been engaged in fratricidal war over land for decades, leading to wanton killing and destruction of property worth several millions of naira.