Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State has inaugurated a Commission of Inquiry into the killings and destruction of properties in Nimbo community by suspected herdsmen last month.
Ugwuanyi urged the commission to unravel all facts surrounding the incident and recommend measures to prevent further occurrence.
Scores of people including children were last month killed during a raid on the Nimbo community in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State by suspected Fulani herdsmen. He called on all communities, interest groups, relevant security agencies in the state to accord the commission the needed support to succeed in their assignment.
Ugwuanyi said April 29 would always be remembered in the state as a day of sadness as many residents of the community were killed and property destroyed during the attack.
“I will continue to be grateful to the residents of the state for the discipline, restraint and respect for the government and rule of law that they exhibited in the wake of the killings,” he said.
He urged the commission to examine the involvement of security agencies in dealing with the situation before and after the incident. The governor charged them to investigate and ascertain the number and identity of persons killed or injured in the disturbances and to ascertain the property destroyed, their owners and value.
He called on the commission to identify persons or groups of persons who either by act or omission were directly or indirectly involved in the killing.
“You should make recommendations regarding persons whom the commission finds blameworthy in connection with the violence and identify communities where herdsmen live and graze.
“You should also ascertain the conditions under which the herdsmen graze and recommend the procedure to be followed by herdsmen intending to graze in the state,” he said.
Responding, the Chairman of the commission, retired Justice Chukwuma Ene, thanked the governor for finding members of the commission worthy to serve.
Ene said the commission would discharge its duty with due diligence in order to achieve good result.
His words: “There is no illusion in anyone of us that the task is going to be easy. So, we solicit the cooperation of communities and residents of the state to discharge our duties. We will do our best to succeed,”
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that other members of the commission were retired Maj.-Gen. Godwin Ugwuoke, Prof. Uchenna Nwagha, Prof. Osita Ogbu, Mrs Anthonia Ugbene-Mgbachi.
Others include, Mr Emmanuel Agbo and Mr Richard Udeichi, who would also serve as the Chief Legal Officer and counsel to the commission.