Prominent leaders and stakeholders from Amasiri community in Afikpo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State have appealed to Governor Francis Nwifuru to lift the restrictive measures imposed on the community following recent violence in Okporojo, Oso Edda.

The governor had ordered the sanctions in response to the killings and destruction that occurred in the area.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, the leaders said the measures have severely disrupted daily life in Amasiri, making it difficult for residents to earn a living. While condemning the killings, they urged security agencies to identify, arrest and prosecute those directly responsible for the violence.

They listed the sanctions to include the removal of all state and local government appointees of Amasiri origin, including commissioners, council chairmen and board members; the dethronement of two traditional rulers; the dissolution of all community groups and unions; the imposition of a 20-hour curfew; the closure of schools; and the transfer of Amasiri’s administration to the chairmen of Ivo, Onicha and Ohaozara local government areas.

The leaders also expressed concern over plans by the state government to begin the process of stripping Amasiri of its status as one of the state’s 64 development centres.

One of the speakers, Dr. Joy Omagha, an indigene and newspaper publisher, called on Governor Nwifuru to adopt a more just approach by setting up an independent and transparent panel to investigate the killings. She urged the arrest and prosecution of the real perpetrators, irrespective of their community, and demanded an immediate review and reversal of what she described as collective punishment of innocent residents.

Also speaking, Idam-Ngwoke Emmanuel, South-East Coordinator of the Human Rights Guide Association of Nigeria, decried the deployment of soldiers to Amasiri, alleging that it has resulted in arbitrary arrests and shootings of innocent people. He appealed to President Bola Tinubu to order the immediate withdrawal of the troops.

A public interest and human rights lawyer from the community, M.O. Idam, said the governor may have acted on incomplete or misleading information, describing the actions taken as rushed and excessive. He stressed that Amasiri residents bear no hostility towards the Osu people, noting that the community had spearheaded the December 2025 peace accord, even against resistance from some neighbouring groups, pending a final resolution by the state government.

He criticised the state’s handling of the crisis, saying residents are now living in fear and unable to carry out their legitimate means of livelihood.

Idam further appealed to the National Security Adviser and the Chief of Defence Staff to intervene by discouraging the continued deployment of troops to the community. He also called for the release of innocent residents allegedly arrested in their homes and workplaces, and urged the governor to reinstate dismissed government appointees of Amasiri extraction and restore the community’s traditional rulers.