Life is no longer normal for the
agrarian community of Ugwuneshi in Awgu local government of Enugu as the
rural folks brood over the fate of 76 farmers now languishing in the
federal prison Afara, Umuahia in Abia State following a clash with
Fulani herdsmen.
It was gathered that the hapless
farmers, including youths were rounded up by “men in military uniform”
and bundled into trucks only to surface at Umuahia where they were
divided into three groups and arraigned at magistrate courts.
After the brief court appearance the
farmers were whisked away to prison custody as none of the magistrates
agreed to grant them bail.
Confirming the arrest of his subjects
the traditional ruler of Ugwuneshi, His Royal Highness Igwe Godwin
Nwobi, said that the incident, which happened last week Thursday was the
high point of the menace of herdsmen in his community.
He said since the Fulani herdsmen
settled in the community on their own they had been destroying crops
with their cattle and over the years all entreaties for them to exercise
caution had always fallen on deaf ears.
According to him, the people of Ugwunesi
had been enduring the impunity of the herdsmen as they continued to
ravage crops and rendering farmlands unproductive, adding that neither
security agencies nor government had done anything to call them to
order.
After several warnings and pleadings,
the royal father said the youths of the community could no longer bear
the excesses of the herdsmen and decided to protest the unending
impunity. He further stated that things came to a head when information
filtered into the community that herdsmen had abducted two women who
went to farm.
“When we got such information, the
youths and men were gathering in our village square to discuss the
matter and plan for a rescue mission when suddenly they were surrounded
by men in military uniform who arrested 76 of them and carried them away
in trucks,” he said.
Igwe Nwobi said that the farmers and
youths had not returned since they were taken away over a week now. He
appealed for the intervention of Enugu State Government to secure the
release of the detained villagers now languishing in prison in the Abia
State capital.
He lamented that with the arrest of his
people the herdsmen who were the aggressors were now being portrayed as
victims, adding that the people of Ugwuneshi had done nothing wrong by
protecting their means of livelihood.
Meanwhile the circumstances surrounding
the arraignment of the 76 persons in Umuahia courts after their arrest
in Enugu State is still confusing as it could not be established where
the men in military uniform came from to make the arrest.
The military formation in Abia State had
denied knowledge of the “men in military uniform” and the arrest of the
Ugwuneshi people.
The Army public relations officer 14
Brigade Ohafia, Major Sydney Mbaneme, said the “Men in military uniform”
may not be soldiers as impersonation of soldiers by civilians do occur.
If at all they (men in military uniform) are soldiers, they are not our
soldiers,” he insisted.
The Army spokesperson noted that if men
in military uniform were real solders, the attention of the Brigade
would have been drawn to it because “when such arrest is made, the first
thing is to carry out preliminary investigation and inform the various
units”.
The Nigeria Police Zone 9 Umuahia, which
jurisdiction covers Enugu also said it was not aware of the Ugwuneshi
people who were arrested and brought to Umuahia with the Zone 9 police
public relations officer (PPRO) DSP Emmanuel Jiakponna, saying that the
incident was not brought to the attention of the police.
Hope of any help coming to the detained
Ugwuneshi villagers in order to regain their freedom is not in sight as
their state government appears indifferent to the plight of the 76
people in detention.
Chief press secretary to the state
governor, Mr. Uwakwe Abugu, who was contacted on phone, said that it was
not necessary that Enugu state government should intervene to secure
the release of the detainees.
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