The Ebonyi State Commissioner for Internal Security and Border Peace, Chief Stanley Okoro-Emegha, has disclosed that Fulani herdsmen who were responsible for the onslaught on three communities in the state had vowed to embark on a fresh attack.
According to the Punch, the Commissioner in a telephone interview on Thursday noted that though the perpetrators had fled the scenes of the ugly development, the state government is not taking the latest threat from the attackers with a mild hand.
Okoro-Elegha said that attackers ran away with the phone of one of their victims, adding that “they picked our call and said they would come back for another attack.”
The commissioner stated, “We have the phone numbers of those who came for the attack. We are tracking the numbers. We have the contacts of the people that sent them and we are tracking those contacts.
“The attackers took the phone of one of their victims and that number has been ringing and someone picked it and said they are still coming back again for another attack and we are not taking it lightly. So, we are tracking those numbers and their locations.”
On Tuesday, the Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, has confirmed that over 15 persons were killed by some suspected Fulani herdsmen on Monday night.
The governor said the alleged herdsmen perpetrated the mayhem using AK-47, calling on the security agents to fish out the concerned persons.
Umahi, who spoke on Tuesday at Obegu, in the Ishielu Local Government Area of the state, said, “I got a piece of very shocking news this afternoon about the attack on about four communities of Nkalaha, Obegu, Amaezu and Umuhuali in Ishielu Local Government Area of the state by AK-47 herdsmen that came yesterday (Monday) and killed 15 of members of these communities.
“I remembered that about a year ago, we had an incident of killing of two herdsmen within this same location and immediately the security agencies, the local government Chairman and the community leaders all came together to condemn the attack and the killing and we immediately asked the security agencies to fish out the people that did that and they did fish them out and as we talk, they are standing trial in Ebonyi State and the community and security agencies appeased the herdsmen and made peace with them.
“And so, it is very shocking that overnight, all the herdsmen in Ishielu local government vacated Ishielu local government which means that the local herdsmen in Ishielu are part of the conspiracy in the killing of our people. They vacated despite all efforts by the government, the governors of South-East and security agencies have been making to give them full protection not only in the state but in the entire South East.
“We feel so sad that this kind of thing should happen to Ebonyi State, we feel so worried for our country Nigeria and we are short of words.
“Good enough, we have some traces of the sponsors, we have the traces of those who came here. I will not disclose it but I am going to escalate the identities of the people to the highest authorities and we wait to see what they will do but we condemn this attack, it is not only happening in Ebonyi State. If it is allowed to go this way, it is capable of generating a very serious civil war among the nation of Nigeria.
“I want to demand from the Security Chiefs to fish out these people because they are well known, they should fish them out, let them face the wrath of the law. It has happened in so many places and they were not fished out and that’s why this kind of thing is happening.”
