- We’ll no longer tolerate this heartless killings, says Ugwuanyi
Suspected Fulani herdsmen in the early hours of on Thursday invaded the
sleepy Ndiagu Attakwu Akegbe-Ugwu community in Nkanu West Local
Government Area of Enugu State, killing a Catholic seminarian, Lazarus
Okafor, and injuring four others, including a pregnant woman.
The suspected herders were said to have
invaded the Ogbodo Nwarum family compound in the community at about 2
a.m. and wreaked havoc on the entire household.
While the seminarian had severe machete
cuts which led to his death, the four others — the landlord of the house
Ogbodo Nwarum, his aged mother, pregnant wife and son — had their
bowels ripped open by the herders who left them gasping for life.
The state Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi,
however, warned that the state would no longer tolerate the mindless
killings by the suspected herdsmen, directing the security operatives to
ensure that those who were involved in the dastardly act were fished
out and made to face the full weight of the law.
The traditional ruler of the community,
Igwe Greg Ugwu, and the council chairman, Afam Okereke, said the
attackers gained access into the building through the ceiling from where
they jumped into the house and unbolted the panel door.
“We heard that the herdsmen had visited
the area on Wednesday with their cows and were destroying the garden
within the family compound but the elderly woman had to sound the local
gong to alert the neighbourhood which made the herdsmen to flee the area
warning however that they would return.
“By 2 a.m, they returned and made sure
they attacked everybody in the house. They had initially left deep cuts
on the man of the house and ripped the bowels of the women including the
pregnant woman to the point that their intestines gushed out. It was at
that point that the seminarian who just graduated from the seminary,
Spiritan International School of Theology, Atakwu and returned the
previous day from school after graduation came out from his room to find
out what was happening and unfortunately, they used their matchete on
him and he bled to death,” the royal father narrated.
The incident left the entire community
in tears as the four injured persons were rushed to the Mother of Christ
Hospital and the ESUT Teaching Hospital as at the time of filing this
report.
Speaking when he paid a visit to the community yesterday morning to assess the situation and possibly prevail on the people not to engage in any form of reprisal, the governor condemned the act in its entirety, insisting that the wanton destruction of lives would no longer be tolerated.
Speaking when he paid a visit to the community yesterday morning to assess the situation and possibly prevail on the people not to engage in any form of reprisal, the governor condemned the act in its entirety, insisting that the wanton destruction of lives would no longer be tolerated.
The governor, who also led a team of
security operatives to the Fulani settlement located at the forest near
the community but without sighting any of the herders who obviously had
fled the area with their families for fear of a reprisal, immediately
summoned an emergency meeting of the Fulani community in the state and
security operatives.
While lamenting that the latest attack
was coming a few days after the Judicial Panel of Inquiry that looked
into the immediate and remote causes of the April 25 attack on Ukpabi
Nimbo community in Uzo-Uwani council where about 48 persons were killed
had submitted an interim report, the governor said he would not rest
until the perpetrators were caught.
The governor, who was accompanied on the
visit by the Catholic Bishop of Enugu Diocese, Rt. Rev. Calistus Onaga,
the Director of the Department of State Services (DSS), and other top
government functionaries, promised to take care of the hospital bills of
those receiving treatment at the hospitals.
“I have already summoned security
meeting this afternoon of Fulani community and the security agencies in
Enugu State to review the situation and determine the appropriate
actions to be taken. It is indeed unfortunate that this incident is
coming just days after the commission of inquiry into the killings at
Nimbo submitted an interim report and is about to complete its
assignment,” he said.
While sympathising with the family of
the deceased who hails from Imo State but lived in the community before
his gruesome murder and the wounded, the governor said his
administration would continue to protect lives and property, noting that
anybody found to be undermining the security of the state would be made
to face the law.
Meanwhile, the Deputy President of the
Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, has condemned, in strong terms, the dawn attack
by suspected herdsmen on Attakwu, Akagbe Ugwu community, Enugu State,
which left a Catholic seminarian dead and four others injured.
This was even as he commended the state
governor and security agencies for their gallantry in busting the
robbery attack on Independence Layout, Enugu on Wednesday.
Ekweremadu said the incessant attacks on
parts of the country by suspected herdsmen posed a grave threat to the
peace, security, and economy of the country. He called on the federal
government to take decisive steps to put a full stop to the ugly
incidents.
He said: “This is another heartbreak,
not only for Enugu State, but the nation in general; and whatever evil
forces are behind these reprehensible acts certainly do not wish the
country well. It must not be condoned.
“The primary objective of government is
the welfare and security of the citizens. The federal government must
take decisive steps to put a full stop to this wanton destruction of
lives and property; and the security agencies must do everything humanly
possible to ensure that the perpetrators of this act of wickedness in
Akagbe-Ugwu do not go unpunished.”
The Deputy President of the Senate condoled with the affected community and prayed for the peaceful repose of the dead.
The Deputy President of the Senate condoled with the affected community and prayed for the peaceful repose of the dead.
On the thwarted robbery attack on Enugu,
Ekweremadu commended Governor Ugwuanyi for his demonstration of courage
and concern as the chief security officer of the state by physically
rallying security forces to the robbery scene to ensure that it was
foiled and the suspects arrested.
“Enugu is a peaceful place, and I salute the gallantry and efforts of Governor Ugwuanyi and the security agencies to ensure that it remains so,” he stressed.
“Enugu is a peaceful place, and I salute the gallantry and efforts of Governor Ugwuanyi and the security agencies to ensure that it remains so,” he stressed.
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