Kogi community displaced by crisis returns

The people of AluajaIyano in Ibaji local government area of Kogi State who were displaced from their ancestral home about three years ago by an intra-communal crisis with its neighbouring Abujaga, Iru and Itale communities have begun to return home.

This followed the implementation of the report of a judicial commission of inquiry set up by the state government to ensure a lasting reconciliation amongst the warring communities.

Speaking at a reception organised in honour of the returnees, the Attah Ogakwu of Iyano-Ibaji, Chief Simon Egwuda expressed happiness with the return of the internally displaced people of Aluaja and thanked the state government for its intervention.

He charged people of the communities especially the youths to avoid hate speech and other actions that could lead to breach of peace, saying there would be no meaningful progress and development in the absence of peace and unity.

The community leader (Okpala) of Aluaja, Emmanuel Ugbaje, who led the returnees described their homecoming as a fulfillment of long awaited desire. “There is no place like home,” he said.

The National President of Ibaji Development Association, Ojih John Iyaje, said the state government and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had provided some building materials and other relief items to support the resettlement of the returnees.