Security operatives have uncovered several shallow graves containing the remains of persons allegedly killed during the boundary dispute between Amasiri community and Okporojọ Oso Edda community in Ebonyi State.
The discovery was made by a joint security team deployed to the area following renewed violence linked to the protracted communal crisis.
Reacting to allegations that troops were deployed to intimidate residents of Amasiri, the Acting Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Lt-Colonel Olabisi Olalekan Ayeni, said the presence of security forces was to enforce the curfew declared by the Ebonyi State Government and to protect lives and property.
Ayeni said credible intelligence had revealed multiple burial sites, including those of adults and children, noting that the findings highlighted the severity of the violence and the need for sustained security operations.
According to him, troops were deployed after the killing and beheading of four persons in Okporojọ village, Edda Local Government Area, and the subsequent discovery of shallow graves with mutilated bodies in Amasiri.
“These incidents required urgent intervention to restore peace, protect innocent lives and ensure that those responsible are brought to justice,” he said.
The army spokesman also dismissed claims circulating on social media that the deployment amounted to a militarisation or invasion of Amasiri community, describing such narratives as misleading.
He explained that the Ebonyi State Government, in line with its constitutional duty to safeguard lives and property, imposed a curfew and temporarily shut schools in the area to prevent further escalation of the crisis.
Ayeni said security personnel were deployed to enforce the curfew, support ongoing investigations, protect medical teams and manage humanitarian concerns arising from the violence.
He added that joint teams comprising the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Services and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps were conducting intelligence-led patrols, cordon-and-search operations and forensic exhumations in affected communities.
The army spokesman stressed that the operation was not targeted at law-abiding residents but at criminal elements taking advantage of the communal tension to perpetrate crimes.
“The Nigerian Army and other security agencies remain committed to protecting all citizens without bias.
The operation will continue until peace is fully restored and those responsible are apprehended and prosecuted,” he said.