…As Abia Community grieve in tears after gunmen kill 4 persons***
The Stephanos Foundation says no fewer than 75 people were killed while 23 others were injured following attacks by suspected Fulani herdsmen in two communities in Irigwe kingdom, Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State.
According to the foundation, about 13,726 persons have been displaced from the communities after the hoodlums burnt 489 houses during the attacks which occurred between September 8 and October 17, 2017.
The Executive Director of the foundation, Mark Lipdo, told journalists on Thursday in Jos that the organisation had also obtained reports of attacks in Benue, Plateau, Southern Kaduna, Edo, Ondo, Ekiti and Delta states where victims alleged that their attackers spoke Fulani and Hausa languages.
According to him, more worrisome was the fact that most villages attacked were now being deliberately occupied by Fulani people.
While calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that military personnel were deployed immediately in these areas, he also challenged the Federal Government to ensure that the attackers were arrested and arraigned in court for justice to be done.
Lipdo said, “Another inhumane act has happened this time, the Irigwe people of Plateau State are the targets. On October 15, 2017, 29 people were massacred in a classroom under the military watch at Miango in the Bassa LGA of Plateau State. Again, the perpetrators have not been arrested and justice has not been done in this situation.
“The Irigwe people reported that between September 8, 2017 and October 17, 2017, in just five weeks, two major communities of Irigwe land were attacked and sacked. Seventy-five people were killed, 23 injured, 489 houses burnt and 13,726 people out of a total population of 80,000 people were displaced.”
Lipdo said the Stephanos Foundation was concerned that the Nigerian Army, with its reputation as a renowned regional force, was not only unable to apprehend the criminals but also admitted that troops were intimidated by the hoodlums.
“This clearly is another threat of genocide, this time the Irigwe people are the target. The government should also ensure that Fulani herdsmen are properly disarmed,” he added.
The SF demanded that the allegation of military complacency and connivance should be investigated and officers involved court-martialed “for the already shattered trust in the military to be rebuilt.”
Lipdo said, “It appears that Nigerian security agencies don’t matter when it comes to Fulani-related criminality. If these criminalities are left unattended, we fear that it could also leave the entire Nigeria vulnerable to more attacks, even from similar external forces.”
In the meantime, it was a tragedy at Ihieorji in Aba South Local Government Area of Abia State as unknown gunmen struck and reportedly killed about six persons in the village.
Unconfirmed reports from the area on Tuesday night, however, gave the death toll to ten with several persons injured and currently receiving medical attention in an undisclosed private Hospital in Aba.
It was learnt that about four persons died on the spot, while two others died at the hospital while they were being given medical attention.
Sources at the area told our reporter on Thursday that the gunmen numbering five had struck the village at about 7.45pm in an ash colour Lexus Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) and started shooting sporadically at anyone on sight.
A source who pleaded anonymity said that while the gunmen were shooting, they overheard them telling their victims that kill them since they wouldn’t let them (gunmen) operate within the community.
At the end of the attack which was said to have lasted well over one hour without any challenge from security agencies in Aba.
One of the victims whose name was simply given as Herbert and believed to be the major target of the hoodlums had his stomach ripped open by bullets and his intestine splattered on the ground during the shootout.
But another account of the incident from a resident of the area alleged that the gunmen whose identity were yet unknown shot their victims in a drug bunk and after the operation shot sporadically into the air while they were escaping in a commercial bus.
The source who simply gave his name as Chetachukwu said that they have been living in fear since after the incident over the fear of being unduly arrested by security agents who couldn’t come to their area while the shooting lasted.
They appealed to government and security heads in Aba and the state at large to come to their rescue, stressing that they have been sleeping with eyes open since Tuesday that the incident happened.
When contacted, the spokesman of Abia State Police Command, Geoffrey Ogbonna confirmed the shooting incident and described it as a drug war between two rival groups.
Ogbonna stated that they were investigating the matter and would soon come out with a statement on the true account of the event.
Punch with additional report from Nation
