Under the sacred trees of Otumusa, ancestral home of the Bahumono people in Abi Local Council, Cross River State, drums echoed, and chants filled the air as the community commemorated the fifth anniversary of the Bahumono Peace Accord.

The event, held on June 20, 2025, celebrated a collective decision to abandon violence and embrace dialogue after years of inter-communal strife .

The Bahumono Nation, comprising nine interconnected communities—Ediba, Usumutong, Ebijakara, Ebom, Afafanyin, Igonigoni, Anong, Abeygo, and Bazohure—endured years of violent clashes over land disputes and generational grievances. The conflict resulted in significant bloodshed, displacement, and the scattering of the Ebijakara people from their ancestral home.

Reflecting on the historic peace accord signed on June 20, 2020, Bahumono Central Youth Leader Ernest Abam said: “We decided to stop the killing and choose dialogue. Fighting only brought pain. Dialogue brings solutions.”

Despite five years of relative peace, community leaders acknowledged the fragility of the progress made. Paramount Ruler of Abi Local Council, Ovai Edward Osim, shared his personal losses, saying: “I am a victim of this crisis. I lost my house, my vehicles, everything. But to still be standing here and see that we have kept peace for five years brings me joy.”

However, Osim emphasised unresolved issues, particularly the displacement of the Ebijakara people, who remain scattered across Usumutong, Adim, and Ugep. He called for their resettlement and urged the government to finalise boundary demarcations between Ediba and Usumutong.

Speaking on behalf of the displaced Ebijakara people, Apostle Elijah Isaac Ebenke described their ongoing plight: “From 2006 until now, my people remain scattered. We gather here every year, but when the drums go silent, others return home. We return to refugee conditions within our own land.”

Ebenke highlighted the importance of their rivers for fishing and trade, stressing that resettlement proposals away from these natural resources are untenable. “Telling us to live without the river is like sending a fish to dry land,” he said.

At the ceremony, Dr Ernest Eteng, Chairman of the Bahumono Peace and Development Union, proposed initiatives to strengthen unity, including a Bahumono New Yam Festival and the construction of a Unity Hall in Otumusa. He urged support from the Abi Council, the Cross River State Government, and other stakeholders to realise these plans.

Dr Rita Akpang, Director of the Interim Joint Matriculation Board (IJMB) for the South-South/South-East zone, announced scholarships for 45 students from the nine Bahumono communities, underscoring the role of education in sustaining peace.

“Bahumono women stand for peace,” she said. “We have carried babies for nine months; we know the pain of loss. Let the killings end; let the crisis end, from today.”
Photo and caption: Bahumono festival