The recently and brutally attacked Ukpabi Nimbo people blames the security operatives for the successful Fulani Herdsmen Terror attack on them,saying,the security operatives were alerted to beef up security but failed to do so.
The villagers, who said this when the
Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, visited the
community on Tuesday, stated that they
were abandoned even after they alerted security
agencies to the plan to attack them.
The General Officer Commanding, 82 Division,
Enugu, Major General Attahiru Ibrahim, and the
Commissioner of Police, Enugu State, Nwodibo
Ekechukwu, were also in the village on Tuesday.
Security was beefed up in the community during
the visit, with heavily armed military and police
personnel positioned at strategic locations.
A community leader, Dr. George Ajogu, who
spoke on behalf of the people of Ukpabi Nimbo
at the village square, said the villagers were not
taken unawares by the attack. A corpse of one
of the victims of the herdsmen’s attack, which
was uncovered in the bush on Tuesday morning,
was displayed in a police Toyota Hilux van at the
event.
The corpse was said to be that of a secondary
school teacher, who was reportedly abducted
from his home and killed in the bush by the
herdsmen. Our correspondent observed deep
machete cuts on the corpse. Ajogu added that
more corpses were being uncovered in the bush
after more than 20 dead bodies were recovered
on Monday.
He noted that the attack would have been
prevented had the security agencies acted on
information made available to them by the
villagers.
In an emotion-laden voice, Ajogu stated, “Had it
been that security agencies responded
appropriately, this would not have happened.
“They (Fulani herdsmen) did not take us
unawares, we knew they were coming. “We are
not happy; we have been crying for more than
two weeks that our community is under threat.
Now, over 20 people are dead. “We are still
discovering corpses; we discovered one corpse
this morning and so many corpses are still in the
bush. “We have been shouting and crying but the
security agencies did not come to our aid; only
one police patrol van comes to this community.
“Because we lack security, the Fulani come here
and tell us the land is theirs. They tell the
farmers to kneel down and they rape the women
in front of their husbands.” Ajogu noted that due
to the location of the village on the border
between Enugu and Kogi states, residents of
Ukpani Nimbo community were always under
attacks from herdsmen, whom he stated sought
to turn the villagers’ farmlands into grazing fields
for their cattle.
Urging the federal and state governments to
come to the assistance of the community, the
spokesman said security should be beefed up in
the village to forestall future attacks. He also
urged the security agents, who were deployed in
the village to restore normalcy after Monday’s
attacks, to remain in the community.
“Please don’t leave, if you leave now, they will
return to attack us again. “They (herdsmen)
have been killing and raping our people for some
time now,” the community leader added. The
Caretaker Chairman, Uzo-Uwani Local
Government Area, Mr. Cornel Onwubuya, said he
personally alerted the governor, the
commissioner of police and heads of other
security agencies after he received a
confirmation from some Fulani leaders in the
area that the herdsmen were going to attack the
community.
Onwubuya disclosed that acting on the report,
Ugwuanyi convened a state security council
meeting on Sunday night. According to
Onwubuya, the said security council meeting
lasted till the early hours of Monday, shortly
before the herdsmen struck. He added, “We had
a security report that this was going to happen
and I convened a meeting with Fulani
stakeholders in Enugu State. “Some Fulani
leaders told us that the herdsmen were camped
very close to our community. I informed the
Commissioner of Police, Enugu State, who
assured us that the attack would be stopped.
“He (Commissioner of Police, Enugu) said he
would get in touch with the Commissioner of
Police in Kogi State to prevent the attack. “The
information we got was credible but
unfortunately, they still attacked us.”
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