Chief Uzu Okagbue has reacted to a recent story making rounds on social media that herdsmen of Fulani extraction are terrorizing Ukwulu, a community in Dunukofia local government area of Anambra State. Although the story which claimed that Fulani herdsmen are running amok in Ukwulu and environs, trespassing on farmlands, and committing various crimes including rape, has been dismissed as false by the government of Anambra State; yet, it has continued to fester, nonetheless.
Reacting to the development, Uzu Okagbue, former Chief of Protocol and Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Willie Obiano, has called for a more objective and deep assessment of certain claims made by the author(s) of the write-up, so that for whatever reason, the people do not continue to fall victim to their imagination. “What I am saying is that these claims are quite outrageous and incisive. Ukwulu is not a border town in Anambra state. It is like the centre of the state. So, if we understand what this means, we would then better appreciate the extent of damage such stories potentially have on Anambra and the people of the state. I don’t know what is going on in Anambra now, but you see, we must stop unnecessarily posturing as victims. It is not helping us as a people”, Okagbue said.
For several months now, particularly since President Bola Tinubu took over from President Buhari, the issue of herdsmen attacks has fundamentally reduced nearly to a state of no mention anymore. Okagbue who alluded to this noticeable change pointed out that it is not to be taken lightly when herdsmen no longer carry out nefarious criminal activities in the Middle Belt, but would now do so in the centre of Anambra State. “It is disturbing that in border towns of Benue and other parts of the North Central zone, news and stories of herdsmen attacks and crimes now almost belong in the past since this current administration of President Tinubu. It is disturbing that such news would now be coming from Anambra State”, Uzu said.
In the past week, more than three people were reported to have been kidnapped around Ukpo, a neighbouring town to Ukwulu. The story of kidnap around Ukwulu and Ukpo has remained worrisome, most recently. To this development, Okagbue admonished that Anambra as a state and the people of Anambra state must look inwards. “Now, these issues of kidnapping are not to be taken for a joke. But, we must focus our gaze within. Who are the people doing these crimes? We must look within so that we can be able to solve our problems,” Uzu Okagbue concluded.
He is a Technical Assistant to Governor Willie Obiano’s Special Adviser on Legislative Matters, whoonce was a Special Adviser to a former Deputy Speaker of Anambra State House of Assembly. Ebuka is a second class upper division graduate of Political Science from University of Calabar, Calabar Nigeria and holds a Masters Degree in Political Science with specialization in Government and Development Studies, from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Nigeria
