Primary and secondary schools in Amasiri, Afikpo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State have reopened after four months curfew imposed on the community by the state government, over the war between Akpoha and Okprojo, Oso Edda in Afikpo and Edda Local Government areas of the state, respectively, which led to the beheading of four people.
The curfew was imposed on the community on January 31, 2026 and lifted last Tuesday, May 5, 2026, after the state security council meeting presided over by Governor Francis Nwifuru in his office at the Centenary City, Government House, Abakaliki, the state capital, with chiefs in attendance.
Daily Sun visited the community last Thursday and saw students and pupils in some schools in the area, though a few of them and their teachers. An SS3 student of Ekumaubaghala Memorial Secondary School in the community, Idam Ugochi, lamented that the curfew has negatively affected her studies and her WAEC exams.
“We suffered much during the lockdown, we saw hell. We were starving and there was no food to eat, and we needed to write our WAEC. We had to trek to Ehugbo, a community far from Amasiri, where we registered for WAEC, and we were doing this everyday under the scorching sun.
“I feel happy that the curfew has been lifted, but my joy is not complete because we need our people who are in prison custody over the crisis to be released”, she said.
She called for the release of those arrested, prosecuted, and detained in correctional centres, to ensure a lasting peace in the community.
“Continued detention of our people in prison custody by the government has made many things not to be functioning. Our markets are still not functioning, many shops are still locked, as you can see, because people arrested and detained in prison have not been released.
“Government should, please, release our people that are in prison, so that everything will take normal shape in this community. My uncle is one of those in prison custody, and he is the only child of his mother. As a result of his detention, my grandmother, who is his mother, is not feeling fine; she is very sick and may die if my uncle is not released.
“We lost many people in our community during the curfew. Government should release those that are still alive, so that everything will take shape”, she lamented.
Also speaking, a JSS3 student of the school, Okpara Daniel, lamented the lockdown.
“Our schools were shut down during the curfew and we were not learning again. We were not attending schools. We didn’t even register for our Junior NECO and other exams we ought to write as JSS 3 students. It is now that we are registering for these exams and we have even missed three weeks in this third term before the government lifted the curfew on our community.
“We are happy for the lifting of the curfew because we would have equally missed this third term if it was not lifted. I am happy to be back to school to continue my studies”, he said.
Junior Principal of the school, Okpara Agatha, said the school missed two sessions as a result of the curfew. She lamented that the community lost many lives during the lockdown and thanked God she survived the situation.
“We thank God that the curfew has been lifted and students are coming. Hopefully, by Monday, everything will be normal. So, students are coming gradually and we are teaching them.
“We have missed the next session and they didn’t write their Junior NECO. So, what we are running around is to make sure we register them to enable them to write the Junior NECO. The students lost the second term. Second term is done and dusted, but we did not do it. This is the third week of the third term. We have already missed the first and second week. We lost many lives and businesses during the curfew. If you go out, you will see how everywhere is, nothing is going on and everywhere is very empty”, she said.
At the Amasiri Central School, there were only four pupils of same family: Enyiukpo Uchenna, Primary 6; Enyiukpo Chinonso, Primary 3; Enyiukpo Chimaobi, Primary 3, and Enyiukpo Michael, Primary 1 were seen without any teacher in the school. Enyiukpo Uchenna lamented the low attendance of pupils in the school and called on other pupils to resume.
“I and my three siblings, as you can see, are the only pupils in this Amasiri Central School. Our colleagues are still in various places they ran to with their parents because of the curfew the government imposed on the community in February this year.
“Our teachers have not also come back, but four of us are here in the school waiting for our teachers to come and start teaching us. We didn’t write our first and second term exams because of the curfew. We missed two terms and, this third term, we have already missed three weeks because the curfew was just lifted on Tuesday this week.
“We want to start learning because we have missed a lot in our studies. Our teachers should start teaching us and our colleagues should return to school. I feel very happy now the government has directed us to start school”, he said.
