To the Secretary General of Ohanaeze, Dr. Joe Nwaorgu, the continuous killing of people across the country by herdsmen without any response from the Federal Government is a failure of governance.
He said: “We are very sad and very disappointed that all over the country, not just the South-East, these killings by Fulani herdsmen have continued unabated and nothing concrete is being done by the Federal Government.
“The first act of governance is protection of lives and property. It is complete failure of governance. There has been no response from the Federal Government and this is allowing the Fulani herdsmen to continue the killing spree.
“Everybody is worried about the poor attitude of the Federal Government to this massacre across the country. Boko Haram is operating in the North-East and Fulani herdsmen are killing people all over the country. It is not the herdsmen that should be held responsible, but owners of the cattle.
“The herdsmen are under the instruction of highly-placed Fulani people who own the cattle. They are heavily armed. How many cows can the herdsmen buy? Federal Government should stop this nonsense before it causes a catastrophe.”
Meanwhile, the traditional ruler of Nimbo, Igwe John Akor, told Vanguard on telephone that the attackers struck at about 7a.m. when they had left for their farms.
He said: “Most of those who were killed died in the early hours of the morning. We are still counting our losses. We have not started going into the farms and bushes to look for our dead brothers and sisters.
“When the situation becomes very calm, we will start looking for the rest of the victims. For now, our prayer is that the Federal Government sends security men to restore peace.”
Also reacting, the traditional ruler of Abbi community, Eze Fidelis Igwe, complained that his community had over the years suffered untold hardship in the hands of Fulani herdsmen, who he accused of maiming and gang-raping “our women at farmlands” in addition to robbing and kidnapping his people or stealing and destroying cash crops in the community.
He said: “This is the fourth time Fulani herdsmen have invaded our community in three years. The losses are too much for us to bear.
“The remaining people of the community have now taken refuge in neighbouring communities due to fear of another invasion by the herdsmen who do not give signs before striking.
“We have made several appeal to the Police, Uzo-Uwani Local Government and Enugu State government demanding for the Fulani herdsmen to leave our community, but nothing has happened.”
In his reaction, Igwe Herbert Ukuta of Igga in Uzo Uwani said: “I am appealing to the state government and the Commissioner of Police to send some detachment of police and military personnel to secure the lives of Igga community where I come from.
“The Fulani herdsmen had earlier threatened that Igga community is among the areas they will attack. “They have now attacked Nimbo, which is among the areas they vowed to attack. Others are Echenwo and Abbi.
Already, the people of other communities are fleeing their homes over fear of the herdsmen attack.”
Already, the Enugu State Police Commissioner, Ekechukwu Nwodibo, had visited the troubled community with the Area Commander for Nsukka, Monday Kuryasi, among other top police officers.
