Obinna Odogwu, Abakaliki
No fewer than three persons were killed and two others injured in Enyanwuigwe village, Igbeagu community, in Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, when two suspected Fulani herdsmen stormed the community and unleashed terror on residents.
The tragedy, Daily Sun gathered, took place at about 9:30am yesterday. Also damaged in the attack were property and economic trees worth several millions of naira.
When our correspondent visited the community, the aggrieved villagers were pensive even as the bereaved families were wailing and writhing in agony.
Widow of one of the deceased, Mrs. Augustina Okemini, told Daily Sun that her husband, Mr. Okemini Nwachi, had gone to their nearby farmland to tether their native cow and was returning when he met his untimely death.
“We were cooking in the morning when my husband decided to go and tie his native cow to a tree at the back of our house. He had successfully tied the native cow and started coming back to home when he heard our neighbours crying and decided to go there and know what was happening.
“On getting there, a herdsman, armed with a cutlass, attacked him with the machete. He struck three times, cutting his two hands off and then hacked him on the head and he fell down.
“We rushed him to Ndubia Hospital and the hospital management demanded
for money. I gave them the N5,000 I had, but he died. I am a mother of eight and I want government to come to my aid. I have no other person except him; my husband was all I had. Our children are very tender,” she lamented.
The wife of the other victim, Mrs. Christiana Iyiele, also narrated how her husband, Mr. Iyele, was killed.
“In the morning, I was cooking rice when one of my children shouted that Fulani herdsman have killed someone. My husband, on hearing that, picked up a stick and rushed to the place. He was holding a palm frond stick and said he wanted to go and know what actually transpired. On getting there, he saw Okemini Nwachi macheted by the herdsmen.
“Nwachi was lying in a pool of his blood. I told my husband to come back and get a cutlass. I told him this four times but he refused. As he got there, he asked the herdsman, ‘na wetin?’ The herdsman replied, ‘Buhari no dey here o.’
“The herdsman quickly attacked him and cut him with the machete. He cut him on the head and other parts of the body. There was no one in the village when the herdsman invaded our area,” she said.
Police spokesperson for the state coommand, ASP Loveth Odah, confirmed the incident.
“The DPO reported that a villager went to the bush to tie his own native cow to a tether. We don’t know exactly what happened between the two because the man is late now and, along the line, trouble started.
“The Fulani herdsman cut off the villager’s two hands and killed him. Maybe the man raised the alarm that attracted other villagers. Three or more of them were injured by the herdsmen.
“For now, three of the community members have been confirmed dead. Then the community succeeded in arresting the two Fulani herdsmen and handed them over to soldiers,” she said.