The Enugu Community Alerts Authorities To The Herdsmen Incursion
The residents of Egbeleli, in the Awgu Council of Enugu State, have pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari and the state’s governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, to protect them from the murderous herdsmen who have encroached on their territory.
According to the community, which is represented by the Awgu Egbeleli Development Union (AEDU), the invaders burned community members’ bicycles and motorbikes in addition to injuring several individuals and killing two people. They said that they are being threatened with punishment if they continue to harvest crops on their farms.
At a joint press conference yesterday with the president of the Awgu Town Youth Association, Oba Nwankwo, and village chiefs, Prof. Reko Okoye, president general of AEDU, said they seek government involvement to prevent them from enacting laws on their own.
He bemoaned the fact that his people were no longer able to visit their fields because they were afraid of being attacked and molested by herders, who would ambush them, abduct their people, and rape their women.
Okoye pleaded with governments to step in as soon as possible to prevent herdsmen from ejecting them from their homes.
He said that the situation had become so terrible that people were afraid to assemble together in their communities for gatherings for fear of being attacked by herders.
Okoye said that the event was properly reported to the state’s security authorities, the Department of State Services (DSS), the police, and the commissioner of police.
In his contribution, Nwankwo stated: “The Awgu Egbeleli Community had a blackout on February 17 and 18, particularly in Olori, Obovia, and Amaovia. We learned how Fulani herders assaulted our women, children, and men on our farmlands. They took over everything; we farmers in Awgu Egbeleli depend on farming to support our families and educate our kids.
“No one visits the farm any more; nothing is occurring here right now, and hunger is pervasive. We regret that herders invaded our farms and seized them from us. Thus, we are requesting assistance from the federal and state governments.
