Eight persons, including personnel of a local vigilante group, identified as Emmanuel Ogbodo, have lost their lives following attacks by suspected Fulani herdsmen at Ogbete Mgbuji and Ngele Aguiyi, both in Isi-Uzo Local Government Area of Enugu State.
While the attack on the farmers at the Ogbete Mgbuji farm settlement started on Monday and continued till Wednesday, the marauding herders extended their onslaught to Ngele Aguiyi yesterday night.
A community leader, Eric Ebeh, who confirmed the incident said that the Ogbete Mgbuji community has been overrun by the assailants, who he said were shooting indiscriminately up till Thursday morning. He added that the residents have fled the community.
Also, a member of the vigilante group in the local government who pleaded for anonymity said that the casualty figure is likely to rise as many farmers and villagers were still missing.
“Suspected Fulani herdsmen besieged Ogbete Mgbuji farm settlement and started shooting anybody at sight. On Tuesday, we recovered two dead bodies who were killed on Monday, while five others who were killed on Tuesday night were recovered on Wednesday.
“I believe more dead bodies would still be found there because we perceived putrid odour and even blood stains on our way out of the farm settlement. We left there in a hurry because the place has difficult terrains with overgrown bushes. We were able to visit the place with the help of officers of the Nigerian Army serving in the local government area. We could not recover all the casualties, some people were still missing.
“The assailants beheaded Emmanuel Ogbodo, who was a member of the Neighbourhood Watch group in the local government.
“I was equally informed that the herders attacked Ngele Aguiyi Wednesday night. The villagers just deposited the corpse of the victim who was killed last night. We have not gone to the community to ascertain the actual number of casualties.
We are still waiting for the local government to mobilize soldiers and police so that we can visit the community.
“These people would just come, attack, and leave the place before soldiers or police could get there. Even the herders we see there are always with AK-47 rifles,” the local vigilante personnel explained.
He equally called for the establishment of a police station at Eha-Amufu, to keep the community safe, adding that the only police station in the entire council area is at Ikem which is at least two hours drive to the scene of the attack.
All efforts to get the reaction of the spokesperson of Enugu State Police Command, Daniel Ndukwe, did not yield positive fruit.
