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conflict. It also recommended that State government rebuild many of the destroyed Public
Buildings which including Umueri Technical College, Girls High School, Otuocha Postal Office, General Hospital Umueri, etc. The Government of the day then declined to implement or accept the recommendations. In apparent retaliation for yet to be redressed violence of 1995, it was said that the Umueri youths launched attacked on Aguleri in April 1999. The reprisal attacks was said to be carried out because of rumor making round that Aguleri people who at then was engaging in funeral ceremonies of the indicted chairman (who died immediately at the end of 1995 crisis) "wanted seven human heads" to give the former local Government chairman a befitting burial. Another factor was Government disinterestedness in the recommendations of the Panel, amongst many others.
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Enforcement
Education, the crisis emanated in 1994 when Aguleri decided to establish a Motor Park/Market at a location on contested Agu Akor land and destroyed the Blessed Virgin Mary statue mounted on Our Lady of Victory Cathedral Otuocha belonging to the Umueri. It was rumored that Aguleri had been planning to attack Umueri with the support of the then local Government Chairman who was from Aguleri. Umueri petitioned and the then State Government who drafted Mobile policemen into Otuocha between December 1994 and April 1995. This action buried the plots and avoided the violence that would have ensued. Following the re-deployment of the anti-riot policemen out of Otuocha, members of Umuleri community attacked Aguleri on 30 September – 3 October 1995, unleashing massive destruction of human lives and property. In 1995, a
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the land, they were received by the people of
Aguleri who collected some money, cows and many other items as an agreement to sell portions of Otuocha land to them. He went further to state that in 1910, the people of Umuleri invaded their land and attacked them but they engaged in peace settlement with Umuleri. As wealthy settlers, they purchased the land too from Umuleri, thereby paying the same price which they had earlier paid to the people of Aguleri.
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during the dispute; they sheltered the displaced in 1995. In 1999, the cause of their involvement wasn't clear. It is alleged that they joined forces with
Aguleri to attack Umueri. According to sources, Aguleri and Umuoba-Anam reached an agreement, that Umuoba Anam joined them to chase Umueri out of
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In
Otuocha, the wet season is warm, and overcast and the dry season is hot, muggy, and humid. Over the course of the year, the temperature typically varies from 19 °C (66 °F) overnight in December to 32 °C (90 °F) by day in February and is rarely below 15 °C (59 °F) or
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and therefore had been divested of the rights or title to the land according to the judgement then. The court held that Umueri has nothing left to justify the court giving them declaration of title. Aguleri sensing the loss of case, sued Umueri in 1935 but lost too on the ground that they too could
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Umuoba Anam, another major community in the town and who also was involved in the crisis of 1999, claimed to have migrated into the land in early years of last century precisely in 1900. According to one of the principal witnesses during the
Supreme Court's case of 1984, he stated that on entering
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The basic infrastructure of the city was built at a time when the town was the headquarters of
Anambra county council and Old Anambra Local Government. The public infrastructures in Otuocha include the Local Government Secretariat, the Divisional Police Head Office, the Aguleri Post office, and
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during the course of 1995 war, shot nine of Umuoba Anam's sons; killed one and where treated with disdain by Umueri when they complained to them about this saying that it is one after the other(meaning that after they the Umueri's have finished with
Aguleri, it will be the turn of Umuoba). This
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to investigate the crisis and recommend solutions to avoid future occurrence. The report of the
Judiciary Panel of Inquiry amongst many other things indicted the then Chairman of the Local Government(an Aguleri native) and the Divisional Police Office (DPO) for involvement(taking sides)in the
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judgment, there was a relative peace existing between the communities until in
September 1995 when Umueri community invaded the Aguleri, killing, maiming and destroying properties belonging to the people of Aguleri. From the reports of World Organisation Against Torture & Center for Law
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but also others from various parts of Nigeria, including the Igala, Hausa, Ijaw, Yoruba, etc. According to oral sources from Umueri, Otuocha land was earlier known as "Otu-Oche" and was a farmstead belonging to the people of Aguleri and Amukwa-Adegbe Village of ancient Umueri Kingdom.
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over the years, had crisis over the town of Otuocha. The traditional based war, was a clarity of the first descendants of the land between the two communities at war. It was lead in view, which of them has superior claim over the territory. The crisis initially arouse in 1933, when
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There are many schools in Otuocha, including St. Joseph's Primary School, Ovuakwu Primary School, and Ochei Primary school. Banks with offices in the town include First Bank of Nigeria plc, Aguleri community bank, Umuoba Anam Community Bank, and Umueri Community bank.
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that took over the land. It extends to includes some parts of Aguarkor in the west and Offianwagbo in the East. It was later called "Otuocha", caused by the mispronunciation of its original name "Otuoche" by the early
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caused resentment within the Umuoba Community and in retaliation for the killing they joined the crisis. The crisis was intervened and resolved during the administration of the Nigerian President,
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360:. Due to geographical balance, the Aguleri people dwell mostly in the northern part, while Umueri natives were dominants of the southern part of the town, and the people of
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for the same settlement in the 1910s, they entered into another purchase agreement with Umueri. The people of Umuoba-Anam have always provided a safer zone between the
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and the Center for Law Enforcement Education, which said that the settlement was bought in 1898 from the Aguleri community, but following the incessant harassment from
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Otuocha has a viable market called the Eke Market. It is located in the heart of Otuocha on the banks of the Great Omabala River. The market is noted as a major
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It has a large population, as many people from different ethnic groups in Nigeria dwell in the area. These people include not only the Igbo natives of
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Onwuzuruigbo, Ifeanyi (2011). "Horizontal Inequalities and Communal Conflicts: The Case of Aguleri and Umuleri Communities of South-Eastern Nigeria".
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The worship of traditional African deities was displaced by Christian and other missionaries. Churches have developed in the town, including both
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476:, who reportedly visited the land, and calling for the unity of the land in a meeting with the leaders of the three communities.
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Obiakor, Nwachukwu (2016). "History, Land and Conflict in Nigeria: The Aguleri-Umuleri Experience, 1933-1999".
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above 33 °C (91 °F). The wet season lasts from April to October, with September the wettest month.
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leaders sued Aguleri people over the land, but lost because they had earlier sold the land to
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the area, the Aguleri community would give Umuoba-Anam more land to expand their settlement.
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Part of Otuocha land owned by one Ogbuevi Oche from Amukwa-Adegbe village, previously called
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The majority of the inhabitants of Otuocha land are Aguleri, Umuoba-Anam, and
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created. Nigerian writer Ifediora Nwabunwanne, in her book entitled
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dwells. Though it was a small land, but expands due to the advanced
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664:"Umuleri-Aguleri Communal Disturbance Regrettable - Council Boss"
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The Biafran War and the Igbo in Contemporary Nigerian Politics
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is a populated town in Nigeria and serves as the capital of
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742:Animo: A directory of Anambra and Imo States
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373:Crisis between Umuleri and Aguleri
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744:. University Publishing Company.
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263:Nigerian Civil War
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52:March 2024
44:editing it
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413:Judiciary
335:Europeans
318:waterport
205:Time zone
186:Languages
108:6°51′02″E
105:6°20′18″N
792:Category
677:25 March
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557:Otuoche.
503:Catholic
346:nwadiana
309:Otu-Oche
279:Ayamelum
525:Climate
460:Aguleri
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378:Aguleri
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259:Biafra
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