About
20 persons in Ukpabi Nimbo, an agrarian community in the Uzo-Uwani Local
Government Area of Enugu State, were killed during an attack by Fulani herdsmen
on Monday.
It
was learnt that scores of armed cattle rearers, reportedly numbering more than
100, stormed the sleepy community in the early hours of Monday.
It
had been reported on Monday that the herdsmen had recruited scores of gunmen
from Nasarawa State for the impending attack on the Enugu community.
Sources
in the community said sporadic gunshots were heard as the rampaging herdsmen
moved to sack villagers from their homes
It
was gathered that the invading cattle rearers carried guns, bows, arrows,
machetes and swords to execute their mission.
The
invaders also set a Catholic church in the area on fire.
Many
of the villagers were said to have escaped to neighbouring communities in the
Uzo-Uwani area, but it was gathered that people in the nearby towns were also
worried about possible attacks from the herdsmen.
A
police source told our correspondent that as of the time of filing this report,
the corpses of five persons, who died in the attack, had been recovered.
It
was also learnt that the corpses, which were deposited at the morgue in Bishop
Shanahan Hospital, Nsukka, were recovered from farmlands.
There
were indications that more bodies would be recovered as a combined team of
police and military personnel, who moved into the community to quell the
attack, had yet to reach all the affected areas.
But
sources in the Ukpabi Nimbo community said more than 20 of their kith and kin
were killed before help could come.
The
Police Public Relations Officer, Enugu State Police Command, Mr. Ebere
Amaraizu, said the total number of casualties could not be ascertained as of
the time of filing this report.
Amaraizu,
who spoke with our correspondent on the telephone, said the situation in the
community had been brought under control, adding that the Commissioner of
Police, Mr. Nwodibo Ekechukwu, had led other officers of the command to the
affected areas.
The
PPRO stated, “We moved in to ensure that the situation did not degenerate
beyond control and right now, everything is under control.
“The
Commissioner of Police is there with other officers and men and the area is
being secured.
“We
can’t give the total number of casualties yet; it is when the operation is
concluded that we will collate figures and give a definite number.”
Many
members of the Ukpabi Nimbo community, who are mostly farmers, have their homes
around their farmlands.
It
was gathered that several houses as well as farms and crops were also destroyed
by the herdsmen.
It was learnt that the herdsmen had previously fallen out with the
villagers over their grazing activities in the community.
Sources
in the community disclosed that the villagers had been resisting the use of
their farmlands as grazing fields by the herdsmen.
It was learnt that the situation further degenerated after some
herdsmen, who operated in Ukpani Nimbo and other communities in the Uzo-Uwani
area, claimed that their cows were missing.
There
were also allegations by the herdsmen that some of their colleagues were killed
in the area.
The
villagers alleged that most of the herdsmen, who were involved in Monday’s
attack, were brought from Nasarawa State by other Fulani cattle rearers who
were already operating in Enugu.
It was further gathered that before the herdsmen struck on Monday, there was
tension in Ukpabi Nimo and other communities in the Uzo-Uwani area over rumour
that about 500 herdsmen were mobilising to attack them.
The
villagers were said to have alerted the Enugu State Government and the
leadership of the Enugu State Police Command after they were informed of an
imminent attack by herdsmen.
According
to sources, the Chairman, Transition Committee, Uzo-Uwani Local Government
Area, Cornell Onwubuya, who was said to have informed Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi
and the police commissioner of the fears nursed by villagers, also met the
leadership of the Hausa-Fulani community in the area over the matter.
Interestingly,
the rumoured planned attack by 500 herdsmen was the subject of an emergency
stakeholders meeting in the Uzo-Uwani area council at the weekend, hours before
the cattle rearers struck.
The
meeting, reportedly also deliberated on the incessant herdsmen-related problems
in the area including several cases of murder, kidnapping and rape recorded in
the recent past.
At
the meeting, Onwubuya reportedly explained that some leaders of the
Hausa-Fulani community had confirmed the rumoured plan by the herdsmen to
launch an attack on the area.
Also
at the said emergency stakeholders meeting, leaders of the Hausa-Fulani community
in Enugu reportedly assured their hosts that they would take urgent steps to
avert the planned attack.
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