Conflicts and Peace in Southeast Igboland of Nigeria: A study of Ezza Inter-group Relations

Abstract

The predominant occupation of Ezza people in the northeastern Igbo land is agriculture. To a
traditional Ezza man, land is next to God. Ezza people were said to have fought wars to
acquire lands for their farm works. But the British colonial forces halted the Ezza military
might. Since then many communities that had benefited from Ezza military assistance have
sought to take back the lands given out by their ancestors to compensate the Ezza warriors,
thereby generating fresh wars with Ezza communities. This study examines these contentious
questions of Ezza rights to continuously own settlements outside the Ezza traditional
homestead. The study adopts the balance of power theory popularized in 1979 by Kenneth
Neal Waltz, an American scholar and realist, who believed that co-operating States will fare
better in an arrangement that does not allow any of the States to exercise domineering power
over others. The data of the study derives from the primary and secondary sources. The study
uses the chronological, thematic and analytical methods of history. The study concludes that
the Ochinkpuru Council, an Ezza mediation group, would be more effective in its peace
efforts if Ezza women and women of any clan in conflict with the Ezza are made part of the
mediation efforts for peace in Ezza inter-group relations.