From Omasi Agu, a border town between Anambra State and Enugu State, a journey of about one hour 20 minutes to Opanda-Nimbo, the venue of the massacre, one would notice the prevailing atmosphere of fear and anxiety with the heavy presence of security men, mostly the army. The whole area was desolate.
A young soldier at the Omasi Agu checkpoint who spoke with our correspondent put it this way, “We have been here for a week now looking for them (herdsmen) but we have not been able to see any of them.
“We have been given the order to engage them if we sight them.”
Asked whether they could confront the Fulani herdsmen who were reported to wield sophisticated weapons, the soldier said, “If we sight them, we will just crush them. We have RPG which they don’t have. They can’t afford it; it is a kind of bomb.”
Continuing, the soldier said, “Not all Fulani herdsmen are bad. From our findings, the more dangerous ones are the Fulani herdsmen that are dark in complexion. The fair Fulanis are not bad.
“Before we came, the people of this area (Omari Agu) complained that they were being disturbed by those herdsmen but since we came, we have not seen any of them (herdsmen),” the soldier stated.
From Opanda in Enugu State, some three kilometres to the scene of the incident, the situation was hopeless and deserted; shops, schools and markets remained closed as at Wednesday and Thursday when our correspondent was in the area.
At Community Primary School, Opanda Nimbo, one Mrs. Caroline Uzor, who walked up to our correspondent after apparently a careful study from afar, identified herself as a teacher in the primary school.
She said, “Because of the attack by the Fulani, everybody here ran away. It was only yesterday (Wednesday) that some people started coming back. Even last night, there was panic here as there was rumour that the herdsmen were back for another round of attack.
“As you can see, our pupils have refused to come back to school. I was harvesting some vegetable in my garden when I sighted you on the school compound and decided to walk up to you.
“We do Rosary procession here in the church every 5pm to seek God’s intervention on this issue,” the teacher said.
At the palace of the traditional ruler of Nimbo, Chief John Akor, a cluster of policemen were seated under a mango tree, guarding the palace.
At about 12.35 pm when our correspondent was at the palace, elders and other stakeholders were having a meeting with the traditional ruler in low voices.
It was gathered that the meeting began at 10 am.
Briefing our correspondent, the monarch said security lapses and underdevelopment of the area by successive administrations were some of the reasons for incessant attacks on his people in the past five years by the herdsmen.
The monarch who said it was wrong to call the herdsmen Fulani, noted that the herdsmen came in from neighbouring Kogi State.
He said, “The killing happened in three villages out of the 10 villages that make up Nimbo. The villages are Ugu Echera, Ngwoko and Unasi.
“The attack happened between 6.30am and 7.30am that day when we started getting distress calls, suggesting that herdsmen were attacking our people in the three villages.
“The herdsmen were killing most of their victims by slitting their throats with machetes and swords. They were even celebrating the massacre. Our people were slaughtered like fowls and yet, nobody has been arrested to account for such evil.
“Many people fled the community to neighbouring communities of Nsukka, Adani, Mkpologu and others.”
The monarch said 12 persons were killed on that day while the thirteenth person died on Tuesday this week at Bishop Shanaham Hospital, Nsukka where most of the wounded victims were taken to.
“What I’m sure of is this: 12 persons died on that day and one died yesterday (Wednesday) at the last count. Many are still in hospital with serious injuries.
“One Holy Christ Church (Odozi Obodo) was burnt. The pastor’s house was also burnt.
“We have the names of those killed but we can’t release them to the press now because there will be a judicial panel on the issue; there will also be autopsy. The bodies of the dead ones are in the mortuary. No single herdsman was killed,” the monarch stated.
He commended both the state and federal governments for stepping up security in the area.
“Both federal and state governments have done well in stepping up security in our area after the April 25 incident.
“We also thank the army and police authorities.
“Though the fear is still here and because of rumours and counter rumours that the herdsmen could come again, our people no longer go to the farm.”
Continuing, the monarch said the herdsmen before the April 25 massacre “came from neighbouring Kogi State to feed their cows, they don’t live here with us. In the course of grazing, they destroy our farms, molest our people, especially women.”
On his reaction to the redeployment of the commissioner of police in the state when the massacre occurred, the monarch said, “The police commissioner had no blame. He tried to provide security for us when we hinted about the possible attack of our community by the herdsmen.
“What happened that day was that the policemen stationed in our place left their beat before those who would relieve them could come.
“The moment the policemen left, the herdsmen attacked. The question is, why did the policemen leave before they would be relieved?”
The traditional ruler who said he was the Eastern regional editor of the defunct Concord newspaper, maintained that the bane of the area was neglect by successive federal and state governments.
“The state and federal governments should come and open our roads so that there won’t be a hiding place for these herdsmen and other hoodlums.”
Speaking, the legal adviser to the monarch, S.E Nwabueze, said those who perpetrated the massacre should not be condemned on the grounds of religion or ethnicity.
He said “I have been a practising Muslim for 30 years. I was in the army for 29 years as a military police.
“The Fulani are not bad people; so it is wrong to condemn those herdsmen on the premises of religion or tribe. The Fulani are not bad people. These herdsmen came from Kogi. The Quran prohibits killing. Prophet Mohammed prohibited hurting others.”
He debunked the insinuation that the herdsmen attacks were a ploy to Islamise the country.
“The Quran makes it clear that there should be no compulsion in religion. The Quran says ‘to you your religion and to me, my religion.’ So the herdsmen attacks have nothing to do with tribe or religion.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment