Photo Credit: www.thebreakingtimes.com

Four months after Fulani cattle rearers sacked the village of Nimbo in Enugu State, the herdsmen have unleashed tragedy on another community in the state.

The village of Ndiagu which is only some 10 minutes drive from the city of Enugu was attacked in the early hours of yesterday. A Catholic seminarian named Lazarus Nwafor and a pregnant woman, Mrs Nwaru, were reportedly killed. Many other villagers were injured.

According to Vanguard newspaper which is one of the earliest publications to report the story, Mrs Nwaru’s stomach was ripped open by the rampaging nomads. Vamguard even has the photograph of the woman with her bowels exposed.

The people of Ndiagu are at the moment wailing and lamenting their ordeal. They claim that apart from the killings and injuries sustained by many of the villagers, their homes were robbed and their women raped by the attackers.

A farmer in the community, Romanus Ugwu gave an account of what happened in Ndiagu: “The Fulani herdsmen were grazing right inside our compounds where we reside last, Tuesday. Their cows numbered over 100. The women and children on noticing their presence, quickly rushed and rang the metal gong at the village square.

“The sound emanating from the metal gong caused the cattle to scamper in disarray.  The herdsmen were infuriated by the action of the women and children.  They told the women and children that they would invade them that night.

“True to their words, they struck at about 2.15am. The herdsmen climbed the ceiling of the rented house where the seminarian resided, jumped down and unlocked the metal door leading to the parlour.

“They now surged in and attacked Ogbodo Nwarum’s family, whose house the seminarian was a tenant. They used a machete to slaughter the seminarian and slit open the pregnant woman’s tummy. Three other family members were seriously injured in the operation that lasted over two hours. Most of us scampered for safety with our children.”

Enugu State governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi yesterday visited the community. He lamented the violence unleashed on the village and promised that the prepetrators would be brought to book. He revealed that he had summoned a meeting of the Fulani community in the state and security agencies to review the situation and determine the appropriate action to be taken.

Ugwuanyi further said: “I assure them (Ndiagu community) that government will do everything to ensure that the culprits are apprehended and brought to book. Government will cater for those in the hospitals.  I want to reassure the citizens in the state of government’s unwavering efforts to ensure that security of lives and property is maintained in every corner of the state.”

The tradional ruler of Attakwu, Igwe Greg Ugwu is apparently still bewildered by the tragedy. He said: “It is a sad development in the community because we cannot point to what warranted these killings and attacks on hapless natives in their ancestral homes.

“This incident happened at 2:15 a.m. What would Fulani herdsmen be doing at about this ungodly hour? Their cows were grazing in people’s residential compounds and their offence was that they rang the metal gong to scare the cows away from their compound.”