From Molly Kilete and Petrus Obi, Enugu
INSPECTOR General of Police, Solomon Arase, yesterday visited Nimbo community, in Uzo Uwani, Local Government area of Enugu State, where Fulani herdsmen allegedly killed scores of residents.
Arase was in the village to ascertain the level of destruction.
He also visited houses and churches that were burnt and hospitals where victims of the attack received treatment.
The police officer, who visited the village on the order of President Muhammadu Buhari, also met with the traditional ruler of the community, Igwe John Akor, where he reiterated the determination of the police to restore peace and stability in the town.
The IGP also appealed to the villagers to remain calm even as he assured that those who perpetrated the act would be caught and made to face the law.
He commended the villagers for not taking the law into their hands and promised to deploy more police personnel in the town to maintain peace and protect them. He also asked them to go about their businesses.
The villagers, who later took turns to narrate their ordeal in the hands of the attackers who they said had been terrorizing their village even before the attack, appealed to the IGP to establish a police station in the town to curb the menace.
One of the villagers, Dr. George Ajogwu commended the the Area Commander, without whose efforts, he said, the villagers would have been wiped out. However, he blamed the Enugu State Police Command for playing politics with the incident, despite several intelligence report passed to it.
The medical practitioner, who put the death rate at 20, said some of the villagers could not be accounted for, while some were still hiding in the bush.
He said as at Tuesday, they had recovered about 10 bodies and appealed to the IGP to deploy his men to help recover more bodies in the bush.
The IGP also visited the Bishop Shanana Hospital, Nsukka where eight of the wounded victims were being treated.
However, at the hospital, one of the nurses in charge of St. Joseph ward, Kayode Olorunfemi, said six of the patients have been transferred to the Orthopedic Hospital, Enugu, for further treatment because of the severity of their cases.
He also told the IGP that one of the patients died on Tuesday, while the remaining two, a male and female were recuperating.
Arase was also at the National Orthopedic Hospital, Enugu, to see the patients on admission there.
Meanwhile, youths of Umuchigbo Nike community, in the Enugu East Local Government area, dismissed another attempted attack by Fulani herdsmen yesterday.
Rumours of the attack, which spread like wild fire through the state capital at the same time Arase visited Nimbo community caused panic and tension among Enugu residents.
Although some people were reportedly injured in the clash with the Nike community close to the state capital, Enugu Police Public Relation Officer said he was yet to get any report ion the incident as at press time.