Christopher Isiguzo and Gideon Arinze in Enugu
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.
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.
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.
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