•Afikpo community grieves as ferry is removed to unknown destination •Begs govt to build bridge across river
From Wilson Okereke, Afikpo
The tension that enveloped Ozizza community and the whole Afikpo town in Afikpo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State for the greater part of last week eventually turned to despair and frustration.
From the afternoon of Tuesday, August 8, 2023, the community was moody as if somebody died in the area as a truckload of soldiers took over the place to ensure forceful removal of a vessel commonly called pontoon, which served as temporary bridge at the Orra Beach between them and their Igonigoni neighbours in Abi Local Government Area of Cross River State.
The people kept vigil, prayed and cried to whoever could help but help did not come their way until Thursday, August 10, when the evacuators of the pontoon, under the watchful eyes of armed soldiers, pulled it into the river and took it to a yet-to-be established location.
Youths of the area staged a peaceful protest at the beach, all to no avail.
The immediate past administration of Chief David Umahi in the state sold the pontoon in controversial circumstances to the member representing Ebonyi North East Constituency in the State House of Assembly, Benjamin Ezeoma.
At a press conference in their chambers within the Eke Market premises, speaker of the Essa Traditional Council of Elders, the highest decision-making body in Afikpo, Chief Christopher Egwu, said that the vessel was brought from Oguta to serve them temporarily pending when a bridge would be erected across the river, after the government of the Old Imo State around 1987 noticed that his people were in dire need of it.
He said that the peaceful protest by the youths was to notify some political leaders and the public of the sufferings that the lawmaker and his collaborators wanted to cause the community.
Insisting that there was no justification in the sale of the boat, he said: “So many governors had ruled without removing the pontoon and I do not see the reason why it would be removed now, even during the election campaign of Chief David Umahi, he promised that he would construct the bridge across the river but instead of him to fulfil the promise, he rather decided to hurt us by selling the vessel.”
He queried why the pontoon was being removed when an alternative means of crossing the river had not been provided, an action which he described as wickedness to the entire Afikpo people.
“We have not seen the bridge and some politicians are taking away the only vessel that we have, it is an omen because their action is not justifiable, this is why we are appealing on Governor Francis Nwifuru to come to our aid either to stop the people from carrying the boat or erect the bridge across Ozizza Beach,” he said.
Ozizza people made efforts to stop either the sale or removal of the pontoon but were not successful.
Chairman of another group comprising elderly men from the age of 80 and above called Onikara, Chief Vincent Oti condemned the removal of the boat, which his community had used for over 30 years.
President-general of Ozizza Autonomous Community, Chief Daniel Umeh, appealed for the reconsideration of the state government over the sale of the pontoon by cancelling the said transaction so that the boat could serve the purpose of taking his people across the river.
“We started this agitation since 2020 and we have been dialoguing with the state government, all to no avail. Now that the officials are forcefully taking it, we are making it known to the world that the interest of the community should been considered because we were losing people when we were using a make-shift boat until our people initiated the move to get the pontoon and, as God would have it, we got the vessel through the help of the then state government of Imo.
“It was gotten through assets sharing; our community was part and parcel of the purchase of the pontoon. We contributed a lot until it was brought in 1987 and, thereafter, we have been securing the boat. On this note the government should see us as co-owners of the pontoon.
“During the period, our pioneer traditional ruler, Ezeogo Vincent Inya, had travelled to Lagos State and consulted with the then Minister of Water Resources and same applicable to a prominent lawyer, Dr. Okoi Arikpo, from Ugep in Cross River. He was also there. These two persons were shuttling between Owerri and Lagos in order to get the pontoon. All other governments have come and gone but none of them contemplated selling the vessel, rather it was only the turn of Chief David Umahi that decided to sell it and we are not happy and we want the world to hear us,” he stated.
Secretary, Essa Traditional Council of Elders, Urom Egwu, and Mrs. Regina Okpani, the national president of Old Womens’ Wing of Ozizza Community, respectively, also expressed displeasure over the removal of the boat most of them used, as a bridge has not been erected as a replacement.
They said the women of the area would be the worst hit by the pontoon’s removal in the sense that it was the only source of transportation for female petty traders and some men whose businesses required crossing the river.
President of Ozizza youth, Augustine Idume, who led the peaceful protest, was astonished that a vessel that had served them under Imo and Abia states, respectively, and in the various administrations in Ebonyi State could be sold by Umahi.
“This particular pontoon was brought to Ozizza Beach between 1987 and 1988 but, surprisingly, today being August 8, 2023, the purported buyer, Hon. Benjamin Ezeoma, stormed the beach with a Hilux van fully loaded with soldiers to carry the vessel, which is the only structure linking us with the other side of Cross River State,” he lamented.
He appealed for the intervention of the state government under the watch of Nwifuru and the Federal Government by constructing a bridge across the river to enable them sustain the mutual transactions between Ebonyi and Cross River.
The youths displayed placards with different inscriptions such as: “Ben Ezeoma stop intimidating us with soldiers,” “Ozizza is not at war with anybody, please leave us alone,” “Build bridge across Ozizza Beach before you take away the pontoon,” and “You have denied us electricity,” among others.
The grouse of Ozizza people is that, being co-owners of the pontoon, which was given to them in 1987 by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources through the then Anambra-Imo River Basin Development Authority, and as the direct beneficiaries, they had the right of first refusal. So, the Umahi-led administration should have considered them before disposing of the facility in questionable circumstances.
The community said that they had approached the Umahi government on several occasions to build a bridge across the beach to enable them easy access to other parts of the world through that axis but all efforts failed. They also stated that the governor had assured them that he would build a bridge there, yet, it was not done.
Daily Sun learnt that, aside from the allegation that the facility was sold at a ridiculously poor price, the process was shrowded in secrecy, not minding the claim by government that it was advertised.
But the Ebonyi State Government under Umahi had said the process of selling the pontoon was open and transparent, so it could not be reversed. The government advised Ozizza people to approach the buyer who, it said, is now the actual owner, and negotiate and possibly reimburse him accordingly. Unconfirmed sources said that the pontoon was sold at N10 million and it was not listed among government assets for sale.
According to the state government, reversing the transaction would trigger a series of reversal of other government property/items already sold through bidding.
Three previous attempts to remove the ferry by the said buyer had been resisted by the community. Ozizza youths during the last dry season chained the pontoon to a big tree at the beach while the community leaders sought to resolve the issue with the government.
During that period, a delegation from Afikpo, comprising the then chairman of the Forum of Afikpo North Elders, Timothy Nwachi, the Deputy Speaker, Ebonyi House of Assembly, Kingsley Ikoro, the chairman of Afikpo North LGA, Uchenna Ibiam, the chairman of State Universal Basic Education Board, Chief Hycinth Ikpor, and Prof. Amari Omaka, SAN, had presented Ozizza Community’s letter concerning the pontoon to the state government.
President-general of Ozizza Development Union, Umeh, told Daily Sun that it was on November 27, 2022, when some stakeholders of the area were invited to the State Executive Council meeting, that the people were provided with the information indicating that the pontoon had already been sold to the highest bidder.
He said that the community had around September 2020, when the idea was first mooted by the government, objected to the plan of selling the pontoon.
He added that Ozizza people were not challenging the Ebonyi State government over the ownership of the vessel, rather, they were appealing that a bridge connecting the two states from that point be constructed as an alternative before the pontoon would be removed.
“Ebonyi State government owns the vessel through asset sharing but the legwork and other processes by which the pontoon was brought to Afikpo were done by Ozizza people. This simply means that we are co-owners of the pontoon and that is why we are appealing to government to have a change of mind because of the emotional attachment that we have with the boat.
“And based on the essentiality of the vessel, anything short of that is a disservice to our ancestors. I can tell you affirmatively that out of the numerous persons who brought the pontoon from Oguta down to Ozizza, only Mr. Joseph Ohan is still alive. We are simply appealing that the government should build the bridge and we will let go,” the president-general said.
Chairman of Esaa Council of Elders, Okpani, corroborated the president-general, disclosing that the cost of bringing the boat down to Ozizza was taken care of by the people of the community who did not only levy themselves but also contributed in so many other ways.
“If the governor wants to remove the pontoon, we are pleading that he should erect the bridge from Ozizza to Igogoni, and I will equally remind him that our people had served under two civilian governments and none of the leaders talked about the removal of the vessel.
“During our last meeting with the governor, he gave us a window to negotiate with the buyer, Hon. Benjamin Ezeoma, who happens to be a serving lawmaker representing Izzi West Constituency in Ebonyi State House of Assembly, and refund the man his money, which he had paid into the government account,” the elder statesman had said.
Another community leader, Abdulkadir Alu, disclosed that it was a fatal incident which claimed the lives of about 30 persons in a day at the Orra Beach some decades ago that prompted the yearning for the pontoon service by Ozizza people after it was spotted in Oguta, Imo State.
He had also appealed to Umahi, whom he described as their son, for an alternative structure as bridge to enable Afikpo and Igogoni people continue to have access to each other before the boat would be removed. He stressed that the bridge, if constructed, would forestall future occurrences of drowning and other misfortunes in the area.
As Afikpo people pushed for the reversal of the said sale, Umahi’s Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Uchenna Orji, said that the government had deliberated on the matter at different stages and severally resolved that the property was properly disposed of, in line with the laws of the state.
According to him, any attempt to reverse the decision would amount to setting the state on fire as it may provoke similar applicability on other government properties acquired from communities in other locations in the state.
“In view of the foregoing, Exco affirmed before a delegation from Ozizza Community, namely, Chief Dan Umeh, president-general, Mr. Obasi David Amadi, secretary-general, Dr. Gabriel Ugwu, secretary-general, ATWA, Mr. Uche Noble Ajuka, Mr. Nwachi Isu and Barr. Patrick O. Egwu, that the pontoon was properly acquired and that government cannot reverse its position.
“Meanwhile, Exco admonished the delegation to ensure compliance with the decision of the government as any act of breakdown of law and order will be viewed as an affront on the powers of government and will be visited with appropriate sanctions,” Orji had warned.
He further said that the Exco had advised that, should Ozziza people so desire the pontoon, they could encourage the youths and leaders of the community to dialogue with the successful bidder, indicating that government would be willing to do the needful in that regard.
Possibly, in a bid not to be seen as confrontational to government, the people of Ozizza, and indeed Afikpo as a whole, watched helplessly as a detachment of soldiers supervised the taking away of their prized pontoon last Thursday.
Some stakeholders of the area told Daily Sun that the struggle was not over, as they would stop at nothing in retrieving the pontoon, including legal options.