Many residents of Amegu Nkalaha Community in Ishielu local government area of Ebonyi State have been confirmed dead following an attack by suspected herdsmen who invaded the community, killing people and destroying houses.
Confirming the attack, the Chairman of Ishielu LGA, Mrs. Ifeoma Agwu said then causality figure is yet to be ascertained as evacuation of dead bodies were still ongoing and they were being deposited at the mortuary.
“We are taking the victims’ bodies to the mortuary right now. I cannot talk much on it now. We will give more details later”, she said.
LEADERSHIP gathered that the attack is believed to be a reprisal following the recent killing of some cows belonging to the herdsmen in the area.
A member of the community, Prof Ndubuisi Idenyi who confirmed the attack took to his Facebook page to post: “My Village Amegu Nkalaha attacked today by Herdsmen.
“Many have been killed and houses razed to the ground. What a black Sunday!”
In a telephone interview, Prof Idenyi said the herdsmen attacked the community in the early hours of Sunday, killing and injuring unconfirmed number of people as well as burning down houses.
“I don’t have the number of casualties right now. We are still tracking and bringing out the dead bodies especially those killed in the farms,” he said.
Another source said a Pastor of a Pentecostal church and an evangelist in the area were among those killed in the attack.
The source who pleaded anonymity said the community members were not responsible for the killing of the cows.
“We did not kill their cows. They were killed by members of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) in the forest,” the source said.
He further revealed that there has been tension in the community following the killing of the cows, maintaining that stakeholders in the area have been making frantic effort to ensure that the attack was not carried out.
“We have been living in fear since the killing of the cows belonging to the herdsmen. Our stakeholders made several efforts to forestall the attack, but to our shock, they invaded the community this early morning and unleashed this mayhem on our people,” the source lamented.
When contacted, the State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Joshua Ukandu said he was not aware of the incident.
