About 20 persons in Ukpabi Nimbo, an agrarian community in Uzo-
Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, were feared dead
during an attack by Fulani herdsmen on Monday.
It was learnt that scores of armed cattle herdsmen, reportedly
numbering more then a hundred, swooped on the sleepy
community in the early hours of Monday.
Sources in the community disclosed that continuous gunshots were
heard as the rampaging herdsmen moved to sack villagers from
their homes.
Apart from guns, bows and arrows and machetes, or swords,
were also wielded by the herdsmen, it was learnt.
Many of the villagers escaped to neighboring communities in the
Uzo-Uwani area, but it was gathered that people in the nearby
towns are 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.
Our correspondent 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
our correspondent learnt that the combined team of police and
military personnel, who moved into the community to repel the
attack, were yet to get to all the affected areas.
Also, sources in the Ukpabi Nimbo community insist more than 20
of their kith and kin were killed before rescue could come.
However, Police Public Relations Officer, Enugu State Police
Command, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, who informed to our
correspondent that the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Nwodibo
Ekechukwu, led other officers and men to the area, 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.
“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,” Amaraizu said.
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.
Our correspondent 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 equally learnt that the situation further degenerated
after some herdsmen who operate in Ukpani Nimbo and other
communities in the Uzo-Uwani area claimed that their cows were
missing.
There were also claims by the herdsmen that some of their
colleagues were killed in the area.
The villagers alleged that most of the herdsmen that were
involved in Monday’s attack were ‘imported’ from Nasarawa
State by other Fulani herdsmen who were already operating in
Enugu.
Our correspondent gathered that, before the herdsmen struck on
Monday, there was tension in Ukpabi Nimo and other communities
in the Uzo-Uwani area over widespread rumour that about 500
herdsmen were mobilising to attack them.
It was learnt that the villagers, in anticipation of an imminent
attack by herdsmen, had alerted the Enugu State Government,
and the leadership of the Enugu State Police Command.
According to sources, the Chairman, Transition Committee, Uzo-
Uwani Local Government Area, Cornell Onwubuya, who was said
to have informed the state governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, and the
police commissioner, Nwodibo Ekechukwu, 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 during the weekend, hours before the
herdsmen struck.
The meeting, reportedly, also deliberated on incessant herdsmen-
related problems in the area, including several cases of murder,
kidnappings and rape recorded in the recent past.
At the meeting, Onwubuya, chairman of the Uzo-Uwani local
council, reportedly disclosed that some leaders of the Hausa-Fulani
community had confirmed the rumoured plan by the herdsmen to
launch an attack in the area.
Also at the said emergency stakeholders meeting, leaders of the
Hausa-Fulani community in Enugu reportedly assured that they
would take urgent steps to avert the planned attack.
However, the attack still went ahead, as planned, despite the
prior notice given to the authorities, and the assurances given at
the stakeholders meeting.
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