By Sunday Ani
Several communities in Enugu State are under attack by suspected Fulani herdsmen. From rural communities in Awgu to Oji-River, Udi, Igbo-Eze North and South, Isi-Uzo and Uzo-Uwani, among others, the story is the same.
Residents of these areas live in perpetual fear as the herdsmen run riot, killing, maiming, kidnapping and raping women without any resistance from security agents. This has led to an increase in the internally displaced persons’ centres in these areas.
The other week, some farming communities in Eha-Amu, Isi-Uzo LGA of the state, specifically Agu-Amede, Ohuolu, Ebo, Akparata and Mgbuji communities, came under heavy attacks, leading to the death of no fewer than 70 persons, with survivors leaving the communities in droves and finding refuge at the neighbouring communities and IDP camps.
In the same vein, members of the rural communities in Uzo-Uwani LGA of the state have also been living in fear, as armed herdsmen unleash terror and mayhem on farmers and residents. They kill, maim, rape and kidnap without let or hindrance.
On November 8, a 40-year-old man, Chidi Lazarus, was hacked to death at an Isi-Uvuru farmland. The unfortunate incident, in addition to the past killings, has triggered panic in the area and forced the farmers to abandon their farms and harvest.
Chidi, a commercial motorcyclist from Amunu village, was reportedly contracted by a local farmer to convey cassava tubers from her farm on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. It was reported that the young man, whose wife was heavily pregnant, left his house for the day’s business without any premonition of what fate had in stock for him.
A member of the community, Udeh Ezea, explained that the late Chidi went to the farm with a lady identified as Ngozika. While he waited for the lady to harvest the cassava tubers, three armed herdsmen accosted them over an alleged missing cow. The deceased explained to them that he was a commercial motorcyclist contracted to convey cassava tubers from the farm, but the gunmen would not listen to such an excuse as they descended on him with several machete cuts. The lady that was harvesting cassava tubers fled for her life and alerted other farmers in the area.
It was reported that Chidi effortlessly tried to ward off the machete cuts with bare hands but he couldn’t do much. When his right and left hands went limp from the deep cuts, more cuts landed on his skull till he passed out. A rescue team, mostly farmers, rushed to the scene, but it was late as the assailants had escaped, leaving behind the mutilated body of the victim, drenched in blood.
Further checks by Daily Sun revealed an upsurge in bloody attacks by herdsmen across different communities in Uzo-Uwani. In Nrobo community, one of the victims, identified as Mrs. Igamadu, suffered deep machete cuts from suspected herdsmen during an attempt to rape her on the farm. She was later rescued by vigilantes and rushed to a hospital in a pool of blood.
The herders, armed with guns and machetes, sneaked into the farm where the woman was working and leered lasciviously at her. But, she noticed what was happening and courageously rebuffed their sexual advances, and that incurred their wrath as they pounced on her with fury.
Again, an unidentified woman from Edem was reportedly abducted along a bushy road called Ugwu Ebere in Nrobo, while a commercial cyclist, Aaron Ugwuoke, escaped with machete cuts by the same tormentors. A few weeks ago, there was a reported attack on a 504 car along Ebere farmland in Nrobo, leading to the abduction of six people. The taxi driver, identified as Matthias from the neighbouring Abbi community, was among the victims. Another young man, Albert Okanya, from Ugor in Nrobo community, was abducted while returning from the farm by the same herdsmen.
A native of Nrobo community who gave his name as Okanya, told Daily Sun’s reporter that people in the area now live in fear as armed herdsmen invade and kidnap them, with little or no help coming from security agents.
“There is no effort from the security agents to rescue the abducted victims or even to prevent further attack,” he said.
He explained that the economic losses suffered by farmers in Nrobo in the hands of armed herdsmen run into millions of naira. According to him, farmlands have been deserted out of fear, while the herders continue to terrorise the locality. He lamented that many farmers in Nrobo known for their massive food production now suffer food scarcity due to the activities of the killer herdsmen.
Some natives of Uzo-Uwani expressed disappointment that despite the anti-open grazing bill signed into law by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, herds of cattle have continued to roam freely in their area. The Forest Guard, a security outfit set up by the state government and deployed to local communities, has been ineffective to tame the rampaging herdsmen.
Checks revealed that Uzo-Uwani has remained a flashpoint after the gruesome killing of the local government secretary, Nnamdi Ogueche, in 2019, by suspected herdsmen around Olo town in Ezeagu LGA of the state. The victim was reported to have gone to broker peace between the communities and the herdsmen, who had been terrorising the area, but he was ambushed on his way back and shot dead.
Despite the high-profile killing, the security of Uzo-Uwani has remained porous. Natives are worried that no serious security measure has been taken to secure the area from armed herdsmen, who are bent on occupying the area as their grazing route.
Worried by the developments, a Catholic priest from the area, Rev. Fr. Paulinus Ike Ogara, lamented that the recurring bloody attacks by suspected herdsmen in the area have turned the area to a killing field. He said Uzo-Uwani has been turned to a slaughter house by the terrorists masquerading as herdsmen.
“It is sad that our local government area has become home to attacks by Fulani herdsmen. So far, evidence has been offered linking the murderous herders to a series of kidnappings, rapes and killings in almost all the communities in the area. The latest incident in Ugbene Ajima, where Chidi was macheted to death, is just one in a series of deadly attacks that have become our nightmare,” he lamented.
The priest wondered why those daredevil herders could not be held in check by the authorities, noting that such unprovoked attacks erode people’s confidence in government. He urged political leaders in the locality to reassess their attitude to the menace of insecurity and reassure the people of their safety.
“While the terrorists do their work, all of us, particularly those of us in the flashpoints, should fight for our lives to be on the safe side,” he added.
Another native of Uzo-Uwani, who is a legal practitioner, Ikechukwu Onodi, also frowned at the gruesome murder of Chidi by armed herders, describing such descent to anarchy as unacceptable. He wondered why a young man in search of his daily bread in his own ancestral farmland should be subjected to such a cruel end in the hands of foreign mercenaries.
“These are not the traditional nomadic Fulani that we were used to playing with in our youthful days. For the avoidance of doubt, there is no indigenous Fulani person in Ugbene-Ajima. Granted that every Nigerian has the constitutional right to move freely and settle in any part of Nigeria. That freedom, however, does not extend to cattle and other animals,” he argued.
While giving a legal interpretation to the incident, Onodi explained that the Nigerian Constitution does not recognise or empower anyone to forcibly annex lands of indigenous communities. He explained that anyone who has not acquired land through legitimate transactions, such as assignment, leasehold or renting, has no basis to reside in Ugbene-Ajima community.
He called on government at all levels to live up to its primary responsibility of protecting life and property of the people. He noted that the government loses its relevance, when it fails to protect the citizens, warning that such failure would imply an invitation to lawlessness.
In his reaction, a computer engineer, Ikechukwu Ezea, lamented that the economy of the troubled communities has been affected badly in the past years because of the ruinous activities of the killer herdsmen.
“People can no longer go to their farms. There is hunger everywhere. The few ones that could summon courage to go to farm only see their farms raided and destroyed by armed herdsmen. People live in fear even in their own homes,” he said.
He called on Governor Ugwuanyi to ensure the implementation of the anti open grazing law in the state. He believes that full implementation of the law would curtail the recurring clashes between local farmers and armed herdsmen.
He warned that the unlimited freedom enjoyed by the herders who openly graze their cattle on people’s farmlands has brought monumental losses in both human lives and property. He noted that the Forest Guard set up by the state government has become a toothless bull dog that lacks the firepower to confront the heavily armed herdsmen.
While appealing to the people of the community not to take laws into their hands in reprisals, he called on the respective communities to form vigilance groups for surveillance and effective security.
As palpable tension continues to build up in the area, investigation revealed that the people are furious with the allegation that the Fulani herdsmen bribed their way back to Uzo-Uwani after the passage of the anti-open grazing law in Enugu State. Local farmers are ready for a showdown with the local authorities for what they termed as blood money, betraying the communities into the hands of the killer herdsmen.
In Nimbo community, people have lost count of those killed by the herdsmen. Earlier last year, the herdsmen attacked some migrant farmers from Aku in Igbo Etiti Local Government Area of the state at Opanda and left scores dead. The Senator representing Enugu North Senatorial District, Chuka Utazi, had in his response to the sad incident, decried the persistent and routine killings of natives and migrant farmers in Uzo-Uwani, and consequently turning the area into a killing field.
The chairman of Uzo-Uwani LGA, Chukwudi Nnadozie, did not respond to the reporter’s request for his comment on the growing insecurity under his watch. The silence of the constituted authority seemed to have confirmed speculations that the local authority lacked the powers to confront the armed groups that parade the bushes with AK47 rifles.
The Southern Governors Forum had, at the end of their meeting on July 5, 2021, reviewed the security situation in the country, and set September 1, 2021, as timeline for the promulgation of anti open grazing law in all member states. In spite of this resolution and subsequent signing of the anti-open grazing bill into law in Enugu State, the herders have continued to ply their trade in total defiance of state laws.
The Enugu State police public relations officer, Daniel Ndukwe, was reported to have attributed the development to a resurgence in the lingering farmers/herders clashes in the areas, which border Benue State.