SUMMARY
The issue of political control of certain towns, districts, or states is volatile in the Nigerian society. The political system in Nigeria is young and is still not fully developed in terms of judiciary capacities. This has had a profound impact on issues of land ownership and subsequent taxations matters. The pattern is in some aspects related to the question of which group was the original inhabitants of the area; this has however been hard to verify, and in some cases the period under British rule drastically altered the power-relationships between different ethnicities. It is hence an infected matter without any clear solution. This situation has led to several recorded conflicts regarding taxation and access to local markets.
The other dyads that belong to the same Political/Land taxation cluster of non-state conflicts are; Hausa – Yoruba, Sayawa – Hausa, Izzi - Ukele, Efik – Ibibio, Ife – Modakeke, Ijaw – Urhobo, Okrika – Ogoni and Urhobo – Bini.
The conflict between the Ezillo and Ezza reportedly dates back to around 1930. At this time, the Ezillo were in conflict with another group, the Ngbo. According to different accounts, the Ezza were either invited to fight on the side of the Ezillo against the Ngbo or were asked to settle in the area between the warring communities so as to prevent further violence between them. Either way, the Ezza settled in the area, and overtime began to integrate and intermarry with the Ezillo. Soon, however, the Ezillo began to call for relocation of the Ezza to the area they claim was originally offered to them, Eguechara; the matter was brought before a colonial customary court in 1955, affirming the Ezillo demand, but the Ezza remained in the other areas where they had settled. Over the following decades, tensions remained between the groups.
The Ezillo - Ezza conflict must also be viewed in the broader spectrum of the ethnic and religious non-state conflicts that began to ravage Nigeria primarily from 1999 and onwards. The conflicts throughout Nigeria have ethnic, political, economic, and religious components, which have become inextricably linked over time, pitting various groups and alliances of groups against each other along different dividing lines. In this atmosphere of latent conflicts, clashes between the groups have been sparked by rather minor incidents, followed by violent escalation. Hence, violence flared in 2008, sparked by a controversy over the placement of a commercial phone booth and degenerating into clashes described by observers as guerrilla warfare. Security forces were deployed to calm the situation, but renewed violence erupted in 2010 and in late 2011.
The non-state conflict between Ezillo and Ezza is first included in UCDP data in 2011. In December that year, an attack by Ezza on an Ezillo settlement resulted in at least 50 battle-related deaths.
