…Gov Ugwuanyi Doles Out N10m To Victims
By Tony Adibe
Again, many natives were said to have been brutally murdered in Agu-Amede Autonomous Community in Eha-Amufu, Isi-Uzo Local Government Area of Enugu State by armed men suspected to be Fulani herdsmen.
Report said that several communities in the affected Local Government Area have suffered incessant violent attacks by the killer herdsmen. There’s speculation that over 150 persons might have been murdered while thousands displaced, with property and farm produce worth millions of naira destroyed in the last two years.
The figure is yet to be confirmed or denied by the concerned authorities, however.
NewsBits learnt that in the latest attack, which took place on Monday, the rampaging herders also injured many, sacked villages, and burnt houses. It had been reported that suspected armed Fulani herdsmen sacked over 14 remote villages in Agu-Amede and Mgbuji communities since the second quarter of 2021.
Also, many people including children had been kidnapped by the same armed herdsmen who, report said, use Benue State as a launching base.
A video recorded in the affected area trending in social media on Tuesday showed many villagers leaving their base for safer communities after the insurgents had reportedly sacked them. However, the Enugu State Government said it has released N10million for the victims of the current violent attack who are now in the Internally Displaced Persons Camp ( IDP).
A statement from the State government said the release of the money was announced during a closed-door meeting the government had with the leadership of the affected community.
“Following the unfortunate attacks on farmers in their farm settlements at Aguamaede and Mgbuji communities in Eha Amufu, Isi-Uzo Local Government Area of Enugu State, the Anglican Bishop of Eha Amufu Diocese, Rt. Rev. Daniel Olinya has expressed gratitude to Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for his administration’s prompt interventions in the crisis, including the release of the sum of N10 million for the immediate needs of the affected victims in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp.
Speaking after a closed-door meeting with Gov. Ugwuanyi at the Government House, Enugu, Bishop Olinya said that he was impressed with “the prompt interventions of Enugu State Government on the crisis in our place,” adding: “I want to thank specifically His Excellency, 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.
“They (victims) won’t feel left out in their problems. I am sure that when we take this money to them, everyone of them is going to be happy, and I too want to thank the governor and Enugu State Government for coming out immediately to intervene in this situation, and I pray that God will bless Enugu State Government and our governor, Rt. Hon. Dr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for this prompt intervention.”
The Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Simon Uchenna Ortuanya, the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Hon. Dr. Jideofor Ebe, and his Transport counterpart, Comrade Peter Andy Omeje, were said to have attended the meeting.
Meanwhile, no statement from any of the conventional or unconventional security operatives in the state in respect of the latest attack.
