Police authorities in Ebonyi State have arrested two traditional rulers and a local government development coordinator over their alleged roles in a deadly communal attack that left four people dead in Okporojo community, Edda Local Government Area.

The coordinator of Amasiri Development Centre in Afikpo Local Government Area, Anya Baron-Ogbonnia, was detained alongside two monarchs, identified as Onyaidam Bassey and Godfrey Oko-Obia. Their arrests follow a violent incursion on Okporojo, during which four residents were killed, three of them reportedly beheaded and their bodies taken away by suspected assailants from the neighbouring Amasiri clan.

Spokesperson for the Ebonyi State Police Command, SP Joshua Ukandu, confirmed that the three community leaders were picked up during a coordinated security sweep involving multiple agencies. He said the operation was carried out jointly by the police, the Nigerian Army, the Department of State Services, and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps.

According to Ukandu, the latest arrests build on an earlier round of detentions, bringing the total number of suspects in custody to at least 13 as investigators probe the circumstances surrounding the killings and the broader conflict between the two communities.

Security sources and local leaders say the violence is rooted in a long-running land dispute between residents of Okporojo village in the Oso Edda community and their neighbours in Amasiri, Afikpo LGA. Tensions reportedly spiked when armed men stormed Okporojo, killing residents and razing homes and other property in an attack that shocked the state and drew national attention.

In the wake of the bloodshed, Ebonyi State Governor Francis Nwifuru took the drastic step of dissolving both the political and traditional leadership structures of the Amasiri clan. During a visit to Okporojo, he announced the immediate sack of the affected officials, accusing local leadership of failing to prevent the escalation of hostilities.

Community figures in Okporojo had earlier appealed for urgent government and security intervention, warning that the dispute, if left unchecked, could trigger wider unrest. They urged authorities to ensure that those behind the killings are identified, arrested, and prosecuted to restore confidence and forestall reprisal attacks.

The police command has pledged to pursue the investigation to its conclusion, insisting that no one found culpable, regardless of status or title, will be spared.