Residents of Amegu Nkalaha Community in Ebonyi State have accused the Nigerian military and police of failing to prevent a deadly Fulani herdsmen attack, despite allegedly warning them not to leave the area a day before the assault.
According to eyewitnesses, at least 16 people were killed, and 25 houses were razed when armed attackers struck on Sunday morning while residents were in church.
Victims were reportedly either shot, their throats slit, or burned in their homes.
Survivors further alleged that soldiers, who arrived after the carnage, confiscated their phones to prevent them from capturing and sharing evidence of the destruction.
“Worse still, when they came, the soldiers seized the phone of our people who were making videos and threatened that if they see videos of the carnage and pictures of the destruction, they will come back and destroy them,” Sahara Reporters quoted Simon Edeze, a resident whose phone was taken, as saying.
Edeze added that after retrieving 10 corpses, including that of a retired policeman, the soldiers returned the seized phones.
The community also condemned Ebonyi Deputy Governor Mrs. Patricia Obila, accusing her of ordering mass arrests over alleged cow killings without visiting to console the victims’ families.
“Even the deputy governor of Ebonyi, Mrs. Patricia Obila, was the one telling the police that they should go for mass arrest in our community, accusing our people of killing cows belonging to the Fulani herdsmen. Till now, she hasn’t visited the community.”
Residents lamented that while authorities act swiftly over alleged harm to cattle, they remain silent when herders’ cows destroy farmlands or when lives are lost.
