Eha-Amufu indigenes protest incessant killings in the area

Hundreds of indigenes of the Eha-Amufu community, in Isi-Uzo Local Government Area of Enugu State, on Friday, staged a peaceful protest in Abuja over the incessant killings of their people by gunmen.

According to them, hundreds of people living in Eha-Amufu have been killed in different attacks since 2021.

The demonstrators were armed with placards, some of which read: ‘Eha-Amufu and communities sack from their home’, ‘The life of Eha-Amufu people matter, stop the killings’, ‘PMB, save our community, end the ethnic cleansing’, ‘Eha-Amufu people now killed daily’.

Addressing journalists during the protest, the Chairman of the Eha-Amufu Peoples’ Forum, IfeanyiChukwu Casmir, attributed the killings to the clandestine activities of some suspected armed herdsmen.

He said the recent attacks began on December 7, 2020, when some unknown men waylaid a truck at the Eha-Amufu-Nkalagu highway and killed the driver and passengers.

Noting that the perpetrators of the dastardly act were not members of their community, Casmir called on President Muhammadu Buhari to deploy soldiers to stop reprisal attacks.

He alleged that after the truck incident, armed herdsmen attacked Eha-Amufu on December, 8, 9, 18, and 19, killing people at sight and setting houses on fire.

He said: “We are utterly shocked and greatly distressed by the series of attacks on Eha-Amufu, which occurred first on December 8, and the continued massacre of our people en mass, 51 deaths in Mgbuji, and 22 in Abor, not sparing women or children; destroying our economic fortunes, displacing families and subjecting us to intense fear.

“The general belief is that the attackers are Fulani militia that since mid-2021 have been on a killing spree in Abor, Agu-Amaede, and Mgbuji autonomous communities all in Eha-Amufu, and they are on a revenge mission over their killed cows allegedly killed in 2021 way before the truck incident.

“If the attacks are reprisal, the assailants should stop and face the real issues. We believe that the attacks are tied to the past. The bloodletting is the handiwork of an insidious enemy in desperation, who has seen the ill-fated episode involving the truck passengers as a good excuse and opportunity to slay the Eha-Amufu people.

“We assert that the attacks are not unconnected to the land dispute between Eha-Amufu and some of her neighbours along the Benue border.

“We can see through it all that those behind the attacks are determined to wipe out the entire Eha-Amufu people.

“Past developments relating to the current happenings are instructive. It is important to note that the land feud between us and our Benue neighbours have been existing over time.

“The land dispute predated the civil war, and it was determined in favour of Eha-Amufu. The judgement can still be found in government archives. Not quite many years back, the dispute gave birth to twin issues, and Eha-Amufu is confronted by both.

“First has been the continuous encroachment by our Benue neighbours into our lands, using farming as an excuse. In these circumstances, intermittent quarrels and skirmishes are constant.

“In the early parts of 2020, the Fulani group came as usual herders who visit seasonally to graze. Later, in about mid-2020, a confrontational variant of the Fulani group emerged and settled at the fringes of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipeline grounds by the Federal College of Education Eha-Amufu.

“Next, they engaged in attacking and killing largely farmers in the Eha-Amufu hinterlands. And then, finally, they moved and occupied the lands in contention.

“It is the settling on that land that triggers this Fulani group’s effrontery to contend that they are owners of Eha-Amufu from north to south, that is, from the Benue border to the heart of Eha-Amufu town, available records to the contrary notwithstanding. The group and their collaborators are indeed a source of grave tribulations to us, the Eha-Amufu.

“They attack our people every now and again, and often times kidnap for ransom. Worried, Eha-Amufu elders recently approached leaders of the Fulani group with the intention to bargain for peace. Unfortunately, when the peace initiative failed due to bureaucratic interference from high quarters, kidnapping increased, and killings became rampant in our area as corpses were recovered almost daily.”

The forum, therefore, lamented the failure of the Enugu State government “to deal with perpetrators of the perpetual killings that has lasted over a year.”

They called on the President to direct the Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Defence Staff, and the National Security Adviser to redeploy the GOC 82 Army Division Enugu with immediate effect and replace him with a more capable person in the community.

The forum also urged the President to “direct relevant authorities, including the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to speedily visit Eha-Amufu with solutions to the humanitarian crisis occasioned by the attacks.

They added, ”The president should direct the Police and the DSS to investigate thoroughly the killings involving truck passengers in Eha-Amufu on December, 7 and take appropriate action or actions; speedily find and arrest the attackers and those behind the attacks in Eha-Amufu on December, 8, 9, 18 and 19.

“Direct relevant authorities including National Boundary Commission to speedily visit Eha-Amufu and resolve once and for all the subsisting land issues between Eha-Amufu and the Benue communities on one hand, and between the Fulani groups and Eha-Amufu on the other.”

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