Paul Osuyi, Asaba
The people of Issele-Azagba, an agrarian community in Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State, have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to free them from the pangs of militant herdsmen who have held them hostage in the past five months.
No fewer than eight persons have been killed in four separate attacks by gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen since October last year.
Several others who were kidnapped during the coordinated attacks regained their freedom after the payment of ransom.
Lamenting the seeming collapse of the security in the town, president-general of Issele-Azagba Development Union, Mr Ben Uche Illoh said residents no longer sleep with both eyes closed.
Illoh passionately appealed to President Buhari to prevail on the various security agencies to come and liberate the people of the community, adding that the situation had overwhelmed the local vigilance group.
“These attacks have become a very big problem for us. The vigilante and the government presence are here. The police have arrived and there is a serious patrol going on but we want more support.
“For example, teachers are afraid to go and teach; it took serious efforts to get some of them back to school and the presence of vigilante operatives has given them the courage to go to school,” he lamented.
Also, the youth leader in the community, Ogebu Edozie said Issele-Azagba is very receptive to strangers irrespective of tribe or religion, adding, however, that bandits have taken advantage of such hospitality to unleash terror on innocent residents.
Edozie insisted that armed herdsmen were responsible for the series of attacks, noting that those who had encounters with the hoodlums – including freed kidnapped victims – confirmed that the attackers were Fulani going by the language they spoke and their physical appearance.
“Victims confirmed that these people are Fulani herdsmen from the language they speak and their physical appearance. We were told by those abducted that they were speaking Hausa. We are not trying to stereotype anybody, if a Fulani man is involved, nobody should shield him likewise an Igbo man or a Yoruba man; it is not about the tribe.
“What we are saying is that we are under siege – vicious attacks. The people doing this are our enemies. They come with very sophisticated weapons which you cannot see around here. It is not a war between us and Fulani, but a war between us and bandits, criminals and killer herders,” Edozie stated.
He said the attacks have taken a huge toll on the socio-economic life of the people, explaining that social activities were at the lowest level while farmers were too scared to go to their farms to avoid deadly confrontation with the bandits.