Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State has constituted a commission of inquiry into the April 25 invasion of Nimbo community by suspected herdsmen that left scores of people dead.
Mr. Ugwuanyi made the announcement on Friday night in Enugu during a state-wide broadcast after his arrival from Abuja where he had gone to confer with President Muhammadu Buhari on the incident.
He said the commission would take a retrospect look into all clashes involving herdsmen in the state and recommend appropriate measures that would be put in place to prevent future occurrence.
The governor said that a situation where residents were gruesomely murdered by other Nigerians would not be allowed to continue.
“The president came out with a clear condemnation of this dastardly act and gave definite directives to the security agencies to fish out these criminals and bring them to justice.
“I am at once, constituting a judicial commission of inquiry to investigate the immediate and remote causes of all the violent occurrences in the state associated with suspected herdsmen,” he said.
Mr. Ugwuanyi said the incident of April 25 was degrading to human life and dignity.
“My visit to Nimbo in order to establish first-hand the extent of carnage was revealing.
“I came face to face with the wounded and bereaved; I saw burnt and damaged parsonage of Christ Holy Church. I saw a traumatised community in shock and despair.
“I saw a dead body, I wept and wondered what has become of our quest for a united, peaceful and prosperous nation,” he said.
The governor said only security agencies in the state would explain to Nigerians what happened even after receiving assurances from them that the security of the community was intact.
“The night before this carnage took place, I got security information that such an incident was likely to take place in the community and immediately summoned a meeting of the State Security Council.
“In the meeting, we received assurances from the Commissioner of Police that the Area Commander of the State Anti-Robbery Squad was on ground in Nimbo.
“Let me state that the state government provided logistics for these deployments. Sadly, in the early hours of Monday, reports of this carnage reached me,” he said.
Mr. Ugwuanyi charged all security agencies in the state to ensure that the security of lives and property in the state was no longer threatened by miscreants.
(NAN)
