Residents of Ozuitem community in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State have been attacked by suspected Fulani herdsmen for having the audacity to ask them to leave their farmland, which they have been destroying for several years.
The incident is happening again barely a month residents of another community in Abia, Ndi Okereke Abam, Arochukwu Local Government, were equally attacked by suspected Fulanin herdsmen.
One of the victims of the Ozuitem attack, Sunday Oru, who had his index finger chopped off by the herdsmen now lying at hospital at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Umuahia by the herdsmen, said they went to farm on that fateful day only to behold the cows eating their farm produce.
Oru said when they asked them to stop their cows from destroying their farm produce they said they could never be forced out from the community as they were one Nigeria and were free to go or feed their cows in any part of the country.
He said when they tried to chase the cows out from their farmland one of the herdsmen blew a trumpet that attracted more herdsmen from the bush who started attacking them with machetes and guns.
The wounded farmer also accused the herdsmen of harvesting their farm produce such as rice, cassava, okro, yams and other produce, “When we approached them they said that if we try to chase them away that they will conquer the community and occupy the place.”
Oru said, “When they started chasing us with their weapons we ran only to meet others in front of us with assault rifles shooting at us, most of us were fataly wounded with different degree of wounds.
“One of us nearly had his neck chopped off, another had machete cuts all over his body while others had bullet wounds, myself one of my fingers was cut off which is the reason behind my being at the hospital.
“I can not tell you how I found myself in the hospital as I only woke up to find my self in this hospital bed, we are calling on the state government to do something urgently before these herdsmen annihilate our community.”
In his reaction, a community leader in Ozuitem, Maduka Okoro, said the herdsmen were found at Umuobasiukwu farm settlement in the community on the last day of November, where they ambushed our youths who went to chase them away from the farm.
Okoro said the herdsmen had been destroying their farmland for several years, “We have been pleading with them to leave our community as they have been destroying our farm produce, they have formed the habit of harvesting our cassava and others to feed their cows.”
He said, “When we asked them to leave they turn after us macheting about six farmers with one losing one of his fingers, two others had their necks nearly cut off, while three are now receiving treatment at the FMC Umuahia.”
In his own reaction, Eme Okoro, secretary to the state government, who is from the community, said the herdsmen were behaving as if they had conquered the entire community as they had threatened to conquer the entire South East.
Okoro said when he got the information that the herdsmen were coming to the community he called on Hamza Karma, AIG in charge of Zone 9, and informed him three days before the attack and he assured that he would contact Leye Oyebade, the state commissioner of police, “I am surprised that nothing was done by the police, though I don’t know their handicap.”
When contacted on phone, the state police public relations officer (PPRO), Ogbonnaya Nta, confirmed the incident, saying the police were on top of the situation.
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