Obinna Odogwu, Awka
Six houses have been reportedly razed in Allah/Onugwa in Olumbanasa, Anambra West Local Government Area of Anambra State following a renewed hostility between it and Odekpe village in the evening of last Saturday.
This came less than three weeks after a bloody clash between the two villages reportedly left seven persons dead and about 153 houses razed in the battle that lasted for more than 24 hours.
A resident of Allah/Onugwa village, Mr Uzor Anthony, alleged that warlords suspected to have operated from Odekpe invaded their village and wreaked havoc.
“They came near our primary school in the morning and started shouting. Our people kept quiet, nobody confronted them. They later went back. In the evening around 5pm, they came back again.
“Our people went to our primary school and waged them not knowing that they had divided themselves in groups. Some moved in from the front, some went to the back and invaded our community through the bush.
“They started burning the remaining houses; so our people ran away. They pursued us to the village that we ran to for safety. That was what happened. Nobody was killed”, he narrated.
Uzor, however, alleged that throughout the period the battle lasted, policemen did not come to their village to quell the situation; lamenting, however, that his people had fled to their neighbouring Innoma community.
Efforts to get reaction from a youth leader in Odekpe village, Mr Ernest Udoba, who had narrated to Daily Sun their community’s side of the story after the last clash proved abortive as he did not pick calls to his phone. He did not also return same as at the time of filing this report.
Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Haruna Mohammed, a Superintendent of Police, said that the police command has not gotten information about any fresh crisis between the two villages.
He punctured Uzor’s claim of renewed hostility saying that the joint security forces stationed in the areas have not reported any renewed battle between the two villages.
“All I know is that joint security forces are there and they are monitoring the situation. And we have not received any information”, said the PPRO.