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…Ebubeagu operatives shoot 2 youths in Ebonyi

Suspected killer herdsmen, Monday, invaded Agu-Amede community in Eha-Amufu, Isi-Uzo Local Government Area of Enugu State and unleashed an attack which left at least ten persons dead and many others wounded.

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The killer herders were also said to have ransacked the community and set houses on fire.

This came as men of the South East Security outfit code-named Ebubeagu were last Saturday alleged to have shot two youths, Samuel Okam and Micheal Oji at Ekoli Edda of Afikpo South Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

Vanguard gathered that two of the victims who were farmers were killed on Saturday, while eight were killed Monday.

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It was further learned that about 25 members in the community sustained various degrees of injuries.

Among those killed, according to sources from the community, were two daughters of a church cleric in the community.

A community leader, Augustine Odoh, who confirmed the attack, explained that it happened on Monday around 1pm.

Odo said that all the members of their community living outside the community had been summoned home, adding that by Tuesday, (yesterday), the community would convey the corpses of the deceased to the Enugu State Government House to meet Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, alleging that the government has abandoned them.

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According to Odo, “They (herdsmen) invaded first on Saturday, killed two people. Today (monday), they invaded the community again and killed eight people including our women and children. So many other people about, 25 of them were equally wounded. They are in the hospital; we don’t know how many people are going to survive.”

He said that residents were now deserting their houses over the renewed attacks.

Lamenting the incessant attack by herdsmen, Odo claimed that in all the attacks, no government security came to their aid.

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“Our people cannot confront them with bare hands. They came in their numbers with AK-47 rifles and other dangerous weapons, shooting and destroying houses for hours unchallenged.

“The government will only deploy soldiers in communities in other South East states to hound and kill members of pro-Biafra groups especially the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, but same soldiers cannot be deployed to our communities to stop herdsmen and terrorists attacks.

“That is the hypocrisy in this government. In my community, people see soldiers and other security agents as sympathisers and collaborators of the terrorists masquerading as herdsmen who are trying conquer our lands”.

Another member of the community, who pleaded for anonymity, however, said that soldiers and other security operatives have moved into the bushes from where the marauders gained access into the community to comb for them.

Efforts to get reaction of the Enugu State Police Command were not successful as the spokesman, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, did not take his calls.

However, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State has released the sum of N10 million for the immediate needs of the affected victims of the attack in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp.

Speaking after a closed-door meeting with Gov. Ugwuanyi at the Government House, Enugu, Bishop Olinya, the Anglican Bishop of Eha Amufu Diocese, said that he was impressed with “the prompt interventions of Enugu State Government on the crisis in the place,” adding: “I want to thank especifically, the Governor of Enugu State for bringing out ten million naira for the people affected.

“I am very happy this evening for the prompt intervention of Enugu State Government in the crisis in our place, Eha Amufu in Isi-Uzo Local Government Area of Enugu State.”

The Anglican Bishop disclosed that the governor “has given us ten million naira to go and see the people and to meet their immediate needs and I am very sure that this will make them have a sense of belonging, make them feel that the state has heard their cry and has really come to help them.”

Ebubeagu operatives allegedly shoot 2 youths in Ebonyi 

The incident happened when the convoy of a Peoples Democratic Party chieftain, in Ebonyi State, Chief Julius Oji (aka Ochiri Edda) was attacked in Ekoli Edda community of the state.

The bodies of the two victims were riddled with bullet wounds even as they are presently receiving treatment in the hospital.

Vanguard gathered that trouble had ensued Saturday evening, when a convoy of vehicles conveying the PDP chieftain and other dignitaries, was halted following a roadblock that was mounted by the Ebubeagu men.

Narrating his ordeal, Chief Oji said it took God’s intervention for him to escape the mayhem plotted against him by the Ebebeagu operatives, alleging that the state has become insecure for the people.

He said, “I went to see Sen. Sonni Ogbuoji in his house in Ebunwana Edda community and while returning to Ekoli Edda community, just between the road that connects Letu from Ekoli Edda, that was where the incident happened. And if not for God, I don’t know what would have become of me, because these people plotted evil for me.

“It was at this particular place in Ekoli, that the Ebubeagu men blocked the road on seeing us, and they started shooting. They kept shooting as they blocked the road. But what saved me was that the particular PRADO Jeep that I came to the village in, was new and I have never taken it to the village before and so, none of them knew the very vehicle I was in.

“That was when one of the policemen in our convoy got down to check what was going on. Their very target was me because if they knew the very vehicle that carried me, it would have been a different thing altogether. Thank God this was the very first time I brought that Jeep to the village because I wanted to keep it in the village. Recently and usually each time I come home, I do use Hon. Chidi Ejem’s car, being my younger brother. So, this very car is new in the village and nobody knew I was in it.

“Another miracle was that the policeman I had used for a very long time which these people know, was not with me in that car. He was in another car behind us. That was how all of a sudden, my driver zoomed past the Ebebuagu people. And it was then that the policeman radioed the one with me in the car to speed off and take me straight to the house that there was danger. I was hearing them. But I kept wondering what would happen to the people with me that were left behind.”

(Vanguard)