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On Saturday, the Umu-Ezuboke Umualor community in Enugu State’s Isi-Uzo local government area was targeted in a vicious attack by a group of heavily armed assailants, marking a dark day for the otherwise peaceful region.
As the dust settles, the true extent of the carnage is coming to light, with reports indicating that at least four people have been rushed to the hospital with severe gunshot injuries.
Narrating their ordeal in the hospital bed, one of the victims, Mr. Methodist Ejiagbo said: “Three months ago, some Abakaliki boys came to my house and told me that they will invade us with war, we are living in the farmlands. They said they would kill me and take over my house and land. One of them, Friday Ukeh said he would take over my house that it is the most beautiful house around.
According to an eyewitness, as they were heading home the previous day, they witnessed a chilling spectacle. A convoy of two Hilux vans and a Sienna bus, carrying individuals dressed in police-inspired clothing, was seen terrorizing returning farmers, seizing their phones and machetes.
However, the eyewitness reported that the assailants showed a surprising hint of leniency towards the youth, with one of them claiming that the boy was not from Umu-Ezuboke.
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“Then at night, at about 11 pm they came in and started shooting everybody, they shot me and I held them and they started shooting everybody, using cutlass on some people, even clubs they used to break some people’s hands. We were surprised. Three days ago they came with a talisman with a bag that looked like a Garri sack, we didn’t know it was a bullet sack. They stationed the medicine man at Nwankwo and I informed our people but they did not go.
“They came with two Hilux and one Sienna. We didn’t go to their place, we are Umualor and they are Amankanu people. One of them, Samuel, is an Abakaliki man who lived in Umualor, they now said that our land is Amankanu. It’s a combination of Amankanu and Abakaliki people. Samuel Idenyi, one of them, is from Amankanu. Samuel Ede who is from Abakaliki was the one that collected phones from our people, that was in the evening, at night they now came in full force, attacked and started shooting at us.
“The man who shot me was Tubor, an Abakaliki man. I know all of them; the other ones are Friday Ukeh, Mark Anyigor, the other one is called stubborn, there was Roma Ekpete’s son, the other one is Oshimo’s son, they are the ones I saw, they were over 20 in number.”
The Enugu State Police have maintained radio silence on the attack, with Public Relations Officer Daniel Ndukwe yet to issue an official statement or confirmation.
