Herdsmen gradually taking over Enugu Communities.
Herdsmen suspected to be fulani cattle rearers are gradually taking over communities in Enugu State.
The herders who move in small groups with their cattle armed with AK-47 rifles and machetes ravage farmlands with crops, rape women and girls who go to the farms, butcher their male counterparts and make away with their money and belongings.
Earlier this week, a farmer and wine tapper, Eugene Iloabana from Isiokwe village, was brutally murdered in Amamkpunato, Achi, Oji River Local Government Area of Enugu State, by men suspected to be fulani herdsmen.
Penultimate Saturday, a woman and her daughter narrowly escaped the rampaging herdsmen at Ugwu Ngongo farm area at Ugwuokpa, Emudo Nenwe, Aninri Local Government Area. The daughter of the woman who did not want her name in print narrated how she saw the herders at a distance in their farm and alerted her mother and they took to their heels.
According to her, the herders gave them a hurt pursuit and were firing gun shots at them, but “luckily, they were able to escape, knowing the terrain”.
At Okpanam, suspected Fulani herdsmen had invaded the farmlands and destroyed food crops worth millions of Naira. The community demanded the sack of the herdsmen in their complaint to the Enugu State government.
Consequently, at Ugbene Ajima community, Uzo-Uwani council area, farmers lament on daily basis the incessant destructive activities of suspected herders on their crops as well as a threat to their lives.
A farmer from the Enugu community who gave his name as Edward Ugwu, said he lost over N500, 000 when herdsmen harvested his cassava to feed their cattle.
He said farmers are afraid to go to farms in the community for fear of herders attack. “There is the fear of famine in the community as most farmers have left their farms for fear of attacks”.
Another farmer, Regina Iggah said she has not recovered from the shock since she was attacked on her farm. Iggah said her crops worth over N800, 000 were destroyed by herdsmen who allegedly invaded her farm with their cattle even as she appealed to the state and local governments to come to her rescue.
The traditional ruler of the community, Igwe Romanus Eze confirmed that he had been receiving series of complaints from farmers over the destruction of their crops by herdsmen.
“The herdsmen problem is like a sucking mosquito on a man’s scrotum. If you hit it hard, you will severe the genitals. If you leave it there, it would suck your blood and invariably give you malaria.
“We have been advised by the governor to manage them peacefully. We normally engage the herdsmen in a peace talk and where they are culpable; we mandate them to pay for damages on people’s farms.
The royal father said he and the council chairman, Chukwudi Nnadozie have been obeying the peace initiative of the state government to settle all farmers/herders issues amicably.
Enugu State government, however, says its is handling the growing spate of herdsmen invasion of the communities in Enugu State and appealed for calm.
Receiving protesters from Oji River Local Government Area on Wednesday, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi appealed to the people not to take laws into their hands.
He said that one of the suspected killers of Eugene Iloabana, at Amamkpunato, Achi in Oji River Local government area had been arrested.
The State Commissioner of Police, Ahmad Abdulrahman, had directed immediate manhunt for the suspected killers, promising that the police will apprehend and prosecute the fleeing culprits.
