Outrage has continued to greet the killing of at least four people in Nimbo, an agrarian community in Uzo Uwani local government area of Enugu State, by suspected Fulani herdsmen.
The attack which took place on Monday, left six others severely injured, while about 10 people are said to be missing.
Recall that similar attack on the community in 2016, had left scores dead and many injured.
Reacting to the development, youth leaders in the South East under the aegis of Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, (COSEYL) asked the Department of State Services (DSS) to produce the murderous herdsmen who killed the farmers.
The youths also urged the South East governors to enforce the ban on open grazing to avoid people taking them as unserious persons.
In a statement signed by its President-General and Secretary-General, Goodluck Ibem and Comrade Kanice Igwe, the youth group called on Nimbo, and other South East youths to mobilize themselves and guard their communities against any form of invasion by herdsmen.
While calling on the international community to come to the aid of Christians and southern Nigerians who they said had been marked for extermination, the group called on Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State to form a strong security outfit to guard border communities against intrusion by herders.
“The Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, COSEYL, the apex socio-political youth organisation in the South-East geo-political zone, condemns in strongest terms the attack by murderous herdsmen/terrorists that led to the death of four persons and missing of 10 at Opanda in Nimbo community, Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu state,” the group said.
“This is the second time in 2021 that murderous terrorists parading as herdsmen are attacking this very community for not allowing the murderous terrorists to feed their cattle in their farm settlements.
“The Department of State Services, DSS that is very good in attacking the homes of activists and killing their supporters should move into action and arrest those killer herders and bring them to court to face charges for murder and other offences committed against humanity.
“The law, they say is not a respecter of persons. Is the law now respecting murde-rous herders terrorists that up till this moment, we are yet to hear of the arrest of those killers?
‘’The DSS that has the capacity to go all the way to Kenya and abduct Nnamdi Kanu, and who moved from Abuja to Ibadan to attack the home of Sunday Adeyemi (aka Sunday Igboho) should also move immediately to apprehend the murderous herdsmen that killed the people of Nimbo community on Monday, July 26, 2021, by 2 am.
“We call on the good people of Nimbo community and other communities in the South East geopolitical zone to immediately mobilise their youths and guard their communities to avoid a repeat of what just happened at Nimbo community.
“The governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, should immediately form a strong and active indigenous security outfit to guard border towns of Enugu State to avert another invasion of the state.
“The governors of Southern Nigeria should stamp their feet on the ground and enforce the ban on open grazing, otherwise nobody will take them seriously in the future.
“What happened at Nimbo community happened because the leader of Miyetti Allah openly instructed his members to disregard the resolution of Southern state governors banning open grazing.
‘’The killer herdsmen/terrorists should be arrested for the killings at Nimbo community in Enugu State. This brazen madness of killing innocent Nigerians for refusing cattle owned by herdsmen to feed on farmers’ crops must stop forthwith.
“We, therefore, call on the international community to come to the aid of Christians and Southern Nigerians who have been marked for extermination without the federal government doing anything to stop the massacre of innocent farmers and Christians.”
Similarly, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council (OYC), yesterday, expressed outrage over the attack by the suspected killer herdsmen in the community.
The OYC in a statement by its President-General, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike and the Secretary-General, Comrade Obinna Achuonye, stated that the attack was unacceptable.
The group called on the military to prove its mettle against the killers, noting that the inability of the military and police to stop the herders, necessitated the formation of Eastern Security Network (ESN).
“We woke up yet again to another orgy of killings by marauding herdsmen. This is not the first time Uzo-Uwani is experiencing this kind of carnage, as we have not forgotten in a hurry how Nimbo in the area came under a similar deadly attack, leaving scores dead,” OYC said.
“Now, we have a repeat of such gruesome and dastardly killings. We are in deep pain, we are in agony over this heartbreaking report.
“This is the kind of situation that necessitated IPOB’s formation of Eastern Security Network, ESN, as they watched helplessly over the years and our people were being slaughtered.’’
While knocking security agencies for doing little in the face of the mindless killings by suspected killer herdsmen, the youth group said: “It is quite regrettable that Nigeria security agencies display weakness anytime herdsmen are involved in crime but they become pythons when it comes to the ESN.
“We saw just a few days ago how the Army announced that they have smashed the camp of ESN in Amagunze, Enugu State, but the same military is unable to enter the bushes and capture herdsmen who are sending our people to their graves and raping our women.”
