It was indeed a black mondayy.It was a solemn mood on Tuesday morning as
Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State
visited Ukpabi, Nimbo, in Uzo-Uwani local
government area of the state.
The community came under attack Monday
morning, by some persons suspected to Fulani
herdsmen who massacred 21 persons.
Ugwuanyi, who wept profusely at the scene of
the incident, was in the company of Enugu
State Commissioner of Police, Mr Nwodibo
Ekechukwu the GOC 82 Division, Nigerian
Army, Major General Ibrahim Attahiru, as well
as the Enugu State Commandant, Nigeria
Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC.
The Governor, thereafter, declared two days
fasting and prayer in the State, asking
residents to commit the situation into God’s
hand.
“It calls for sober reflection; this is a trying
period, not just for this community but for all
of us.
“On Sunday, we were in the church for Nigeria
Prays, with General Yakubu Gowon; I got a
call from the council chairman and
immediately, I summoned a security council
meeting; prior to that we had met with the
Fulani leaders, and it was indeed yesterday
that we would have inaugurated a joint
committee of the Fulani and the Enugu
government.
“Be that as it may, what has happened, has
happened; this is not the to blame anybody;
government will do what it is supposed to do;
I understand that economic activities have
been shut down here, we will as a government
make available the sum of N5m to the
leaders of this community and then from
there proceed to the hospital, settle all the
bills and then later we go to the next line of
action.
“May I, therefore, call on the entire people of
Enugu State to please fast for two days and
put this into the hands of God; Enugu is in the
hands of God. I reassure this community that
the government and the people of Enugu
State are behind you; your pain is our pain;
you are the true heroes of democracy and we
cannot abandon you; that’s why I am here”,
the Governor stated.
The visit coincided with the recovery of one
more dead resident, who was slaughtered by
the herdsmen.
The victim, one Mr. Ugwuogbu, who according
to the community has brought number of
recovered dead bodies to 21, is a teacher
serving in the community.
Governor Ugwuanyi was later at the palace of
the traditional ruler of Nimbo, His Royal
Highness, Igwe John Ako, who described the
attack as unprovoked.
“We had a black Monday yesterday; no week
passes by without our women being raped
and our men killed by the herdsmen.
“We appeal for military and police presence;
our people don’t go to farm again; they come
to the farm, point gun at the farmer, ask him
to go away, and the cattle will feed on the
farm; we don’t go to farm again”, he
lamented.
Meanwhile, a resident, who spoke earlier at
the market square on behalf of the residents,
heaped blames on security agencies over the
attack.
According to him, “we were not taken
unawares; we knew about this attack about
two weeks ago; we informed all the relevant
security agencies but they never took us
serious; we are not happy; our hearts are
bitter.
“This has been going on for years, right from
the previous administration, we have been
crying but nobody has ever listened to us; we
thank the Governor for his quick visit.
“But we plead with the government to ensure
that the army and the military remained here
for months; this is not a matter of
disappearing after few days, because they will
still come back”.
Some of the victims include a fresh graduate,
Eze Patrick Okechukwu, who just passed out
from the NYSC few days ago, as well as an
80-year old man, who was equally
DAILY POST correspondent, who was part of
the team, reports that a church building
belonging to the Christ Holy Church of Nigeria
was burnt down completely.
victim churchEqually, only few residents,
especially the youths were seen in the
community, even as the on-going Senior
School Certificate Examination had been
suspended in the area.
This is as many survivors, with various
degrees of injuries on the head, neck, and
other parts of th
of Enugu State
visited Ukpabi, Nimbo, in Uzo-Uwani local
government area of the state.
The community came under attack Monday
morning, by some persons suspected to Fulani
herdsmen who massacred 21 persons.
Ugwuanyi, who wept profusely at the scene of
the incident, was in the company of Enugu
State Commissioner of Police, Mr Nwodibo
Ekechukwu the GOC 82 Division, Nigerian
Army, Major General Ibrahim Attahiru, as well
as the Enugu State Commandant, Nigeria
Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC.
The Governor, thereafter, declared two days
fasting and prayer in the State, asking
residents to commit the situation into God’s
hand.
“It calls for sober reflection; this is a trying
period, not just for this community but for all
of us.
“On Sunday, we were in the church for Nigeria
Prays, with General Yakubu Gowon; I got a
call from the council chairman and
immediately, I summoned a security council
meeting; prior to that we had met with the
Fulani leaders, and it was indeed yesterday
that we would have inaugurated a joint
committee of the Fulani and the Enugu
government.
“Be that as it may, what has happened, has
happened; this is not the to blame anybody;
government will do what it is supposed to do;
I understand that economic activities have
been shut down here, we will as a government
make available the sum of N5m to the
leaders of this community and then from
there proceed to the hospital, settle all the
bills and then later we go to the next line of
action.
“May I, therefore, call on the entire people of
Enugu State to please fast for two days and
put this into the hands of God; Enugu is in the
hands of God. I reassure this community that
the government and the people of Enugu
State are behind you; your pain is our pain;
you are the true heroes of democracy and we
cannot abandon you; that’s why I am here”,
the Governor stated.
The visit coincided with the recovery of one
more dead resident, who was slaughtered by
the herdsmen.
The victim, one Mr. Ugwuogbu, who according
to the community has brought number of
recovered dead bodies to 21, is a teacher
serving in the community.
Governor Ugwuanyi was later at the palace of
the traditional ruler of Nimbo, His Royal
Highness, Igwe John Ako, who described the
attack as unprovoked.
“We had a black Monday yesterday; no week
passes by without our women being raped
and our men killed by the herdsmen.
“We appeal for military and police presence;
our people don’t go to farm again; they come
to the farm, point gun at the farmer, ask him
to go away, and the cattle will feed on the
farm; we don’t go to farm again”, he
lamented.
Meanwhile, a resident, who spoke earlier at
the market square on behalf of the residents,
heaped blames on security agencies over the
attack.
According to him, “we were not taken
unawares; we knew about this attack about
two weeks ago; we informed all the relevant
security agencies but they never took us
serious; we are not happy; our hearts are
bitter.
“This has been going on for years, right from
the previous administration, we have been
crying but nobody has ever listened to us; we
thank the Governor for his quick visit.
“But we plead with the government to ensure
that the army and the military remained here
for months; this is not a matter of
disappearing after few days, because they will
still come back”.
Some of the victims include a fresh graduate,
Eze Patrick Okechukwu, who just passed out
from the NYSC few days ago, as well as an
80-year old man, who was equally
DAILY POST correspondent, who was part of
the team, reports that a church building
belonging to the Christ Holy Church of Nigeria
was burnt down completely.
victim churchEqually, only few residents,
especially the youths were seen in the
community, even as the on-going Senior
School Certificate Examination had been
suspended in the area.
This is as many survivors, with various
degrees of injuries on the head, neck, and
other parts of th
No comments:
Post a Comment