Although the police put the death toll from the herdsmen’s invasion of the community at six, residents said that they lost up to 40 of their members.
Before the meeting was fixed, Governor Ugwuanyi had placed a telephone
call to Presi¬dent Buhari on the incident but was put on hold.
Four hours later, the Presi¬dent, through an aide, told the governor that he would imme¬diately do something about it.
A disturbed Ugwuanyi was said to have made the call when he learnt that the police had not arrived at Uzouwani, which made him call the General Officer Com¬manding (GOC) 82 Division for help.
When Buhari eventually re¬sponded, he declared that his pri¬ority is to
end the herdsmen’s at¬tacks on farming communities across the country.
Before his comment, the Pres¬ident had been criticised over his silence
on the herdsmen’s attacks which took a worrisome dimen¬sion last Monday
when suspected armed cattle rearers killed scores of residents of Ukpabi
Nimbo in Enugu State.
Before then, the herders had also recently mowed down com¬munities and killed several people in Agatu villages in Benue State.
In a press statement issued in Abuja, the Senior Special Assis¬tant to
the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba She¬hu, explained that
the President had scheduled a meeting for last night with Governor
Ugwuanyi over the incident in his state.
The statement said the Pres¬ident had directed top security chiefs to
take all necessary actions to stop the carnage perpetrated by the
herders.
It reads: “Following continu¬ing reports of attacks by ‘herds¬men’ on communities across the country, particularly Monday’s attack on Ukpabi Nimbo in Enu¬gu State, President Muhammadu Buhari assures all Nigerians, once again, of his administration’s con¬tinued commitment to ensuring the safety of life and property in all parts of the country.
“President Buhari unreserv¬edly condemns the attack on Uk¬pabi Nimbo and
other such acts of extreme violence against com¬munities in other
states of the fed¬eration.
“Acting on the President’s di¬rective, the Inspector-General of Police
and heads of the nation’s other security agencies are al¬ready taking
urgent steps to ful¬ly investigate the attacks, appre¬hend the
perpetrators and bring them to justice.
“Ending the recent upsurge of attacks on communities by herds¬men reportedly armed with so-phisticated weapons is now a priority on the Buhari adminis¬tration’s agenda for enhanced na-tional security; and the Armed Forces and the Police have clear instructions to take all necessary actions to stop the carnage.
“In keeping with the Presi¬dent’s directive, the Inspector-General of Police, the General Officer Commanding the 82nd Division of the Nigerian Army and the Director of the Depart¬ment of State Security in Enugu State have visited Ukpabi Nimbo to personally oversee investiga¬tions into the attack on the com¬munity and ongoing efforts to ap¬prehend the culprits.”
Similarly, a meeting of the Ni¬geria Governors’ Forum (NGF) was also
scheduled in Abuja on Wednesday and the herdsmen’s threat was expected
to be one of the main issues for deliberation.
Also, at the public presenta¬tion of a book: “Who Will Love My
Country?”, written by the Deputy Senate President, Sena¬tor Ike
Ekweremadu, Buhari or¬dered the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen.
Abayomi Olanishak¬in and IGP Arase to declare a full-scale war on the
attackers.
The President specifically di¬rected the Service Chiefs to arrest the
attackers and beef up security in and around the affected states to
prevent further reprisal attacks.
Represented at the well-at¬tended event by the Minister of Information,
Alhaji Lai Moham¬med, President Buhari declared that the government
would no longer allow such attacks to con¬tinue in any part of the
country.
He said: “Let me start by con¬demning in the strongest terms the attacks
by herdsmen on Mon-day. I deeply sympathise with those who lost their
lives as well as their property. I have directed the Chief of Defence
Staff and the Inspector-General of Police to
se¬cure all communities under attack by herdsmen and go after those
terrorising innocent people all over the country.”
President Buhari further urged Nigerians to love one an¬other, adding
that “the change which we so much desire starts with them.”
The Chairman of the occasion and former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, expressed the hope that insurgency and what he called “Fulani herdsmen’s nui¬sance and harassment” will soon be conquered.
The Chairman of the occasion and former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, expressed the hope that insurgency and what he called “Fulani herdsmen’s nui¬sance and harassment” will soon be conquered.
The former Head of State de¬clared that “with the help of God and
cooperation of all citizens and firm action of our security forces and
leadership, we shall conquer.”
Gen. Gowon, who recalled his civil war experience, said Nigeria is
stronger together and that the future remains very bright “if we
continue to move ahead togeth¬er as one.”
He commended Senator Ekw¬eremadu for taking the initiative.
Meanwhile, Governor Ug¬wuanyi has summoned an emer¬gency security
meeting with tra¬ditional rulers, presidents-general of town unions and
leaders of the Neighbourhood Watch in all the communities in the state.
A senior government official disclosed to The AUTHORITY that the
meeting, which is part of a series of actions plans to find a lasting
solution to the menace of the Fulani herdsmen, will hold on Monday, May
2, 2016 at the old Governor’s Lodge, Enugu, at 1pm.
He said that the governor is determined to end the inhuman acts of the
herdsmen which have consumed the lives and proper¬ty of innocent people
of the state.
Igbo monarchs blast S’East govs over docility
In a reaction to the Enugu in¬cident, traditional rulers in the South East have accused gover¬nors from the zone of inaction over the atrocities of the Fulani herdsmen.
In a reaction to the Enugu in¬cident, traditional rulers in the South East have accused gover¬nors from the zone of inaction over the atrocities of the Fulani herdsmen.
The Chairman of South East Traditional Rulers Council, HRM Eze Eberechi
Dick, who addressed a press conference in Umuahia, Abia State over the
invasion of Uzo-Uwani community in Enugu State, expressed shock at the
inac¬tion of the governors and political leaders from the region.
He said: “Let them stand up now and speak up; let the mass¬es hear their
voices. This matter has gone out of hand and the com¬munities can’t do
anything with¬out the governors.”
We’ll not retaliate killings, says IPOB
Amid the growing indigna¬tion against the herdsmen’s kill¬ings, the Indigenous Peoples of Bi¬afra (IPOB) on Wednesday said it would not retaliate or encourage the retaliation of the cold-blooded murder of Nimbo people because it is not in its character to unleash violence on people.
Amid the growing indigna¬tion against the herdsmen’s kill¬ings, the Indigenous Peoples of Bi¬afra (IPOB) on Wednesday said it would not retaliate or encourage the retaliation of the cold-blooded murder of Nimbo people because it is not in its character to unleash violence on people.
IPOB, in a statement signed by its Media and Publicity Offic¬er, Mr.
Emma Powerful, said that it has concluded its action on the killing in
Nimbo by informing the world that its members will not retaliate.
Powerful said: “It is neither in our character, nor will we play into
the hands of blood thirsty dictators who send their kins¬men on rampage
as forerunners to their evil agenda to subjugate our people. We remain
peace-loving, focused and a well-disciplined mass movement totally
commit-ted to freedom.”
