The suspected herders lived peacefully with the people. One day, they attacked their hosts.
Governor Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State has blamed herdsmen wielding AK-47s, for the murder of at least 15 persons in four communities in the Ishielu local government area of the state on Monday, March 29, 2021.
The attack occurred in the evening on the day.
The governor says the attack on the communities may have been a reprisal, after two herdsmen were killed in the local government a year ago.
"About a year ago, we had an incident of the killing of two herdsmen within this same location. And immediately, the security agencies, local government chairman and the community leaders, all came together to condemn the attack and the killing," Umahi says.
"And we immediately asked the security agencies to fish out the people that did that. They did fish them out and as we talk, they are standing trial in Ebonyi State.
"The government and the 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. Which means the local herdsmen are part of the conspiracy of the killing of our people," the governor adds.
The communities attacked were Umuhuali, Nkalaha, Obeagu, Nkalagu, and Amazu in Ishielu local government.
Eyewitnesses recall that the gunmen shot sporadically, killing the victims in different areas of the communities. Motorbikes and cars were also set ablaze.
Residents say they have been living peacefully with the herders, and that they were surprised that the people they have been hosting and cohabiting with all along, decided to turn their guns on them.
“There has not been a situation whereby we got into a quagmire with them,” one resident tells ChannelsTV. “We have been living peacefully. Suddenly, we wake up with corpses as gifts.”
An age-long problem
Governor Umahi describes the incident as unfortunate and a betrayal of trust, assuring the people that the government will do all within its powers to bring the perpetrators to book.
“Good enough, we have some traces of the sponsors; we have the traces of those who came here,” Umahi says. “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.”
There have been renewed clashes between crop farmers and nomadic herders across Nigeria in recent times.
Some state governors have banned open grazing of cattle in a bid to curb what has been an age-long, recurring crisis.
The herders-farmers crisis has escalated ethnic and religious tension in Nigeria; with a punitive food blockade measure in early March underscoring the severity of the situation.
Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom who has been battling killer herders and bandits since 2016, recently accused herders of trying to kill him.
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