8 killed, Property Destroyed
As Herdsmen Renew Attacks
On Delta Communities
8 killed, Property Destroyed
As Herdsmen Renew Attacks
On Delta Communities
8 killed, Property Destroyed
As Herdsmen Renew Attacks
On Delta Communities
... Okowa calls for calm
16th February 2020 in National
Paul Osuyi, Asaba
Herdsmen have renewed violent attacks on
various communities in Uwheru Kingdom, Ughelli North Local Government Area of
Delta State leaving no fewer than eight persons dead while several others were
injured.
The communities most affected by the
marauding attacks are Avwon, Agadama, and Ohoror.
Chairman of Ughelli North Local Government
Area, Godwin Adode, earlier on Saturday, said four persons have been burnt
beyond recognition following the renewed wave of attacks by the gunmen.
But locals claimed that the death toll as a
result of the attacks has risen to eight beside the destruction of farmlands
and other property.
The local sources said the herdsmen allegedly
accompanied by unidentified army personnel, started the attacks on Thursday and
were unrelenting as at Saturday (yesterday).
However, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has called on
residents in the troubled area to remain calm and shun the temptation of
embarking on a reprisal attack.
The governor who flayed the unwarranted
attacks said he has already directed the Commissioner of Police and the Brigade
Commander, 63 Brigade, Nigerian Army, Asaba, to as a matter of urgency ensure
that peace was restored to the communities.
In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary,
Mr. Olisa Ifeajika, in Asaba, the governor also charged authorities of the
Nigerian Army to investigate the alleged involvement of its personnel in the
crisis and fish them out.
Delta Communities
Accuse CP Of Compromise
Over Herdsmen Killings
•As he recants statement on police participation in
exhumation of slain farmers •DTSG officials allege conspiracy between security
personnel, herders By Perez Brisibe
Residents of some communities in Delta state
have descended on the state Commissioner of Police, Hafiz Inuwa, accusing him
of compromise in the manner he handled last week’s reported attacks on communities
in Uwheru kingdom in Ughelli North Local Government Area of the state by armed
Fulani herdsmen which claimed eight lives
Indigenes of Agadama, Ohoror and other
agrarian communities in the kingdom had over the years, lamented the incessant
attacks on them by armed Fulani herdsmen who brought their herds to the area for
grazing. Following fresh attacks last week, natives of the affected communities
blocked the Bomadi/Ohoror road protesting alleged connivance of persons dressed
in military uniforms with the herdsmen that led to the killing of over ten
farmers and fishermen who had gone to their respective farms. They also claimed
that in a bid to probably conceal their deeds, the herdsmen took their
atrocities a notch higher by withholding and burying the corpses of those
killed with two of the corpses burnt by the assailants.
The Delta state governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa
on his part, had in a statement through his Chief Press Secretary, Olisa
Ifeajika, alleged that the herdsmen accompanied by unidentified army personnel,
had stormed the communities in an unprovoked attack that has become a routine
and killed no fewer than eight persons and injured many others. A day after the
incident, the Commissioner of Police faulted media reports that eight persons
were killed in the renewed attacks, describing it as moves by some individuals
to cause apprehension in the state. The Police boss while warning the general
public to stop escalating issues wondered why members of the community would be
hiding the corpses of such persons claimed to have been killed by the herdsmen
if such incident actually occurred.
According to him, “Only one person was shot
by the hoodlums. The victim was rescued by a search party and taken to the
hospital for treatment.” He said: “When the incident of herdsmen invasion was
first reported, we quickly mobilized our men to the area in partnership with
the military. The protesters from the community blocked the road but with
co-operation of the political stakeholders in the area, the police was able to
open the blockade. “A rescue team was raised with representatives of the
police, community and other services with a view to recover the said corpses,
but on getting to the bush, only one person was seen with bullet wounds and was
taken to the hospital for treatment and up till now (Sunday) as we speak, the
police have not seen one single corpse. “People should stop escalating issues
as no corpse has been recovered or seen by the security operatives as at Sunday
morning (February 16) and if there are, why are they hiding such corpses from
the police? But a search will continue today, if there are any corpses as
claimed, but for now, there is nothing like that.”
In a move to prove the security operatives wrong,
the community in company of the rescue team made up of personnel from the army
and police, was able to enter into the bush the next day and identified three
shallow graves where six of the farmers had been buried and exhumed them in
addition to two others which were also dug up the previous day. The victims
were identified as: Denis Itoje; Philip Emesharueke, 27; Andrew Useh, 22;
Ochuko Ovwanre, 25; Samson Coach Ogheneoruese, 35; Kotor Boy, 25 and Freeborn
Israel, 35. Giving details on the recovery of the corpses, a police officer
from Ughelli ‘A’ Division who was part of the operation said the team embarked
on a long trek for over an hour into the enclave of the herdsmen who had
relocated into the interior part of the bush before they were able to identify
the spot where the victims were buried. How rescue team retrieved corpses from
herdsmen enclave The security source who spoke on condition of anonymity, said:
“There is vast stretch of land with white sand like a beach alongside a river
bank where the herders built their temporary shelter while they also use the
river as source of water for their herds. They had proceeded into the deeper
part of the bush before we arrived but we were able to identify three shallow
graves where they buried the farmers in twos and covered them with white sand.
Investigations carried out revealed that the hoodlums had earlier killed two of
their victims and burnt their corpses probably in a bid to dispose them.
The remains of the eight corpses exhumed so
far are currently in the Ughelli Central Hospital for autopsy.” CP recants
earlier statement However, a day after the discovery of the corpses, the CP who
had earlier admitted that the police was part of the rescue team that went in
search of persons reportedly killed by the herdsmen, recanted his earlier
statement and claimed that the police did not participate in the rescue
operation. Speaking to Vanguard on the position of the police on the
exhumation, he said: “Yes, six bodies were actually brought to us (at the Ughelli
Police station) by some people which they exhumed, and alleged were part of
those people killed during the herders/farmers clash in Uwheru communities.”
The CP however questioned the authenticity of the corpses. He said: “It is the
investigation that will tell us who killed them, who buried them, when they
were buried and who exhumed them. “This has to do with national security.
Pathologist will come in, doctors will come in, experts will have to come and
give us their own advice and opinions before we give our own final conclusion.
More so, when you discovered those things, why did you not call the law
enforcement agencies to be part of the recovery exercise and who even buried
them? “I still stand by what I said then that we did not recover any corpse, but
I am admitting these six corpses because they were brought to us by some people
who said they exhumed them in a shallow grave in the communities where the
clash between them and herdsmen took place.” CP is being economical with the
truth – Uwheru PG Accusing the police boss of being economical with the truth,
President General of Uwheru kingdom, Cassidy Akpadafe, said the community was
maintaining its earlier position that so far, a total of nine persons were
killed and buried in shallow graves of twos by the herdsmen He said: “The issue
is that the CP was not there himself, so maybe that was why he said the Police
did not participate in the recovery operation, but his men from the Ughelli ‘A’
division police station were among the rescue team alongside soldiers that went
for the recovery of the corpses, it would have been practically impossible for
us to recover the corpses if the security operatives did not accompany us. “So
if he is claiming that the police did not participate in the operation, I wonder
what he is talking about because he is well aware of it. However, for a lasting
solution to these attacks which have become an annual occurrence, the state and
federal governments should give an order that herdsmen should no longer bring
their herds to our area again.” Security operatives threatened to destroy our
communities Meanwhile, a traditional chief from the community, Prof. Patrick
Muoboghare who is also the State Commissioner for Higher Education said they
had to accompany the rescue team to exhume the corpses because the security
operatives had threatened to destroy the communities.
Exonerating the policemen
drafted to the area over their inability to arrest the armed herdsmen, he said:
“I do not blame the police because when they tried it few years ago the Fulani
herdsmen killed them and the then Delta State Police Commissioner said he
didn’t send anybody to go and fight herdsmen. “Not too long after that, the
then Ughelli Police Area Commander (ACP Usman Ndababo) visited Uwheru to help
disperse the Fulani herdsmen, only for him to be assassinated in Ughelli. Who
killed him?
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