Tuesday, April 23, 2019

How we escaped herdsmen knives in Anambra, says survivor


Okegwo Kenechukwu Awka

One of the 30 survivors of the herdsmen attack at a farm settlement in Mmiata Anam, Anambra West Local Government, Area, Anambra State, Mr Augustine Nzedigwe Udalor, has revealed how eight armed herdsmen carried-out the murder of six persons in the community late last week.

According to Udalor, the herdsmen in the early hours of Thursday last week attacked him and his wife but they luckily escaped.

He said: “It was at about 10 o'clock on that fateful day, while I was working on farm, that a neighbour came to inform us that herdsmen were around. Not quite long, I saw eight armed herdsmen; they surrounded me with guns and machetes. I shouted Aboki, Aboki Aboki as they pursued me, my wife, and our neighbour. At that point, I never know that they had already killed four persons at Agweugbu. I ran to a point and went into hiding. They came  searching for my wife and I. They came close to where I was hiding. I saw them clearly. They were eight in numbers. One of them had a bag loaded with guns. While the other eight held machetes in their hands. But before this time, they had killed four persons in the nearby farm settlement called Iyiogbu Camp and burnt their houses.”

Udalor further said: “Having stayed for some hours, I was afraid because I didn’t know exactly where they were. I came out and started searching for my wife and our neighbour. By then some people had started calling me; fortunately I saw my wife. She told me that the herdsmen killed Chief Obugo Nnakwe, who was fetching firewood before the herdsmen appeared from nowhere and started giving him some deep cuts. They also gave our neighbour some machete cuts.”

He further recalled: “We had issues with the herdsmen on 2nd January.  Two among the herdsmen were caught raping wives of two local farmers. They were handed over to law enforcement agents. The issue was later resolved; we didn’t know they would come to attack us again. The herdsmen claimed that the two men, who raped the farmers’ wives, were killed after court granted them bail.
As if that was not enough, another batch of herdsmen came and killed another man returning from his farm.”


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