Anambra and Kogi States communities clash over oil, 4 killed

Four persons from Aguleri, Anambra state were killed on Monday, July 23, in a communal clash between two border communities in Anambra and Kogi states. 

Vanguard reports that the two communities, Aguleri of Anambra and Echeno/Odeke of Kogi state, have been laying claims to the oil deposits on the Omambala River basin. Another seven persons were reportedly injured in the clash.

The commissioning of Orient Petroleum Refinery at Aguleri Otu in Anambra State by President Goodluck Jonathan last year was said to have aggravated the crisis.

Casualty figures on the Kogi side is yet be ascertained. It was however learnt that the Kogi fighters took the Aguleri people unawares.
Vanguard reported that “the latest clash, which occurred at about 3.00pm on Monday, involved the use of sophisticated weapons, even in the presence of security operatives guarding the buffer zone created by the National Boundary Commission in the area to forestall clashes between the warring communities.

“It was also gathered that one of the mobile policemen guarding the buffer zone had allegedly informed Kogi people that Aguleri people were at the disputed area, adding that shortly after, Kogi people came in large numbers, armed with dangerous weapons, including automatic rifles usually handled by security operatives”.

Anambra Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Mr. Emeka Chukwuemeka, confirmed the incident, but refused to give the casualty figures, saying that the incident  was being investigated at the highest security level.