The police in Ebonyi have confirmed the killing of eight persons, including a three-month-old baby in a resumed boundary dispute between two communities in the state.
The warring communities are Ndiagu Alike community in Ikwo Local Government Area and Enyibichiri in Abakaliki Local Government Area.
While six of the victims who were said to be from the same family were burnt to death in a bus they were travelling in, two others died from bullet wounds they sustained during the attacks.
The attacks happened along the Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu Alike Ikwo road, near the border between the two communities.
Police spokesperson in the state, Loveth Odah, confirmed the incident. She said the incident happened on Saturday.
According to her, one of the victims was a wife of a police officer serving in the state but who is on secondment to Borno State to fight insurgency in the North East.
She said: “It is a longstanding dispute between Ndiagu Alike community in Ikwo Local Government Area and Enyibichiri community in Abakaliki Local Government Area that erupted on Saturday.
“A vehicle was seen burning on the road, allegedly set ablaze by warriors from one of the communities.
“The victims were coming from Abakaliki where they attended a matriculation of their son.
“Five of them were from the same family, including a little baby, and one was a neighbour who joined them. They were burnt to ashes.
“Also, three other persons were attacked and two of them were killed. One of them, a woman, was the wife of a police officer deployed to Borno State.”
The communities have had an intractable land tussle for decades and all attempts to settle the dispute by successive administrations in the state have been unsuccessful.
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