The Nigerian Army has dismissed claims circulating online that troops deployed to Amasiri community in Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State are carrying out an invasion, explaining that the mission is a coordinated security operation aimed at safeguarding lives and flushing out criminal elements.
This clarification was contained in a statement issued by the Acting Deputy Director of Army Public Relations, 82 Division, Lieutenant Colonel Olabisi Ayeni, and published on the Nigerian Army’s official X handle on Sunday, the 8th of February, 2026.
The statement was released in reaction to viral videos showing journalists questioning and criticising the presence of soldiers in the community.
The Army explained that the deployment followed grave security incidents, including the killing and beheading of four persons in Okporojo village, Edda Local Government Area, as well as the uncovering of shallow graves with mutilated corpses in parts of Amasiri.
“These atrocities demanded urgent intervention to restore peace, protect innocent lives, and bring perpetrators to justice.
“The Ebonyi State Government, in line with its constitutional responsibility to safeguard lives and property, therefore imposed a curfew and temporarily closed schools in Amasiri to prevent escalation and ensure public safety.
“The security agencies were deployed to enforce the curfew, ensure uninterrupted investigations and security operations, protect medical teams, and manage the humanitarian implications of the crisis,” the statement read.
Ayeni noted that the operation is being carried out by a joint security task force comprising the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Police, the Department of State Security, and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps.
According to him, the combined teams are executing intelligence-driven patrols, cordon-and-search exercises, and forensic exhumation of several burial locations, including graves believed to contain the remains of both adults and children
.
“It is important to stress that the deployment of troops is not targeted at the people of Amasiri but at criminal elements exploiting communal tensions to perpetrate heinous crimes.
“The operation is intelligence-led, professional, and conducted in partnership with local leadership to ensure transparency and accountability,” he added.
The Army reaffirmed that its mandate remains the protection of all citizens without discrimination, stressing that the operation would continue until normalcy returns, suspects are arrested, and justice is achieved. It also appealed to the public to ignore misleading narratives and support security efforts in Afikpo North and surrounding areas.
Amasiri and the neighbouring Oso Edda community in Edda Local Government Area have been locked in a protracted dispute over ancestral land ownership, a conflict that has stretched back several decades.
Residents of Amasiri insist the contested land belongs to them, accusing Oso Edda settlers of gradual encroachment over the years.
Tensions escalated sharply on the 29th of January, 2026, when suspected attackers from Amasiri allegedly stormed Okporojo village in Oso Edda, killing and beheading four people, including traditional rulers, and setting houses on fire.
The incident was widely described as a retaliatory strike, with both communities trading accusations over who triggered the latest round of violence in a long-running feud.
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Following the attack, Ebonyi State Governor, Francis Nwifuru, imposed a 20-hour curfew on Amasiri, shut down schools, and dissolved the entire community leadership structure.
The governor also removed all government appointees from the community, dethroned traditional rulers, while security agencies arrested several suspects, including the coordinator of the Amasiri Development Centre, Anya Baron-Ogbonnia, and two monarchs.
However, the actions sparked protests among Amasiri residents and leaders, who alleged that the response unfairly targeted their community while sparing Edda
.
They accused the governor of partiality, pointing to claims that his mother-in-law is from Edda and alleging political motives, including assertions that Amasiri did not support him during past elections.
In response, the governor’s office maintained that the measures were unavoidable, describing them as decisive steps taken to enforce peace after the breakdown of an earlier agreement and to prevent further loss of lives.