Ebonyi discontinues trial of 180 defendants allegedly involved in communal clash

Ebonyi State Government on Monday discontinued the trial of no fewer than 180 defendants in the Effium and Ezza-Effium communal clash standing trial at Abakaliki Magistrates Courts.

Ben Odoh, the attorney-general and commissioner for justice, in a letter to the courts, urged the courts to discharge and acquit the defendants because the state was no longer interested in the case.

Chief Magistrates Ojemba Isu-Oko of Court 1 and Linds Ogodo of Court 2, in their ruling, discharged and acquitted the defendants.

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The defendants, who were charged four years ago, had been detained at the Ebonyi Correctional Centre.

The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that the defendants were mainly members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Effium Motor Park.

Some members were said to have come from Effium, while others were from Ezra-Effium in the Ohaukwu Local Government Area of the state.

A fight had erupted among the defendants, who were said to be in two factions, over which faction controlled the park.

The fight later degenerated into a communal clash between Effium and Ezz-Effium communities, in which lives were lost and property destroyed.

Worried by the continued remand of the defendants, the two communities, in 2024, signed a peace pact to end the fighting.

A delegation of the communities presented the peace pact to the state government, which prompted it to discontinue prosecuting the defendants.