CRISIS: Women In Enugu State Community Protest Against Invasion, Burning Of Houses By Neighbouring Community
Calling on the Enugu State government for urgent intervention, the protesting community claimed that two of their daughters were missing after the attack, which they said has become a reoccurring thing with security agencies showing no interest in arresting the situation.
Hundreds of women of the Ikolo community in the Igbo-Etiti local government area of Enugu State have staged a peaceful protest against the invasion of their community and burning down of several houses and properties worth millions of naira by youths of the neighbouring Aku community.
Calling on the Enugu State government for urgent intervention, the protesting community claimed that two of their daughters were missing after the attack, which they said has become a reoccurring thing with security agencies showing no interest in arresting the situation.
The protesting women who carried placards and palm fronds alleged that over 50 youths from the neighbouring Aku, community swooped on them while still sleeping around 2am, on Monday, with guns, machetes, and petrol bombs which they deployed to set 17 houses on fire.
They claimed that the attack was unprovoked carnage unleashed on the peaceful community has no trace of aggression against its neighbours.
Some of the placards read: “Is Aku more than Enugu State Government?”, “Enugu Government save Ikolo from Ogbons Idike”, “Save our soul, our houses are burnt by Ogbons Idike” and “Save us from Aku people”.
The leader of the protesting women, Florence Ekwueme, said many women in the community have been rendered homeless by the invaders, adding that the government should urgently intervene to save the community.
Narrating the attack, she said: “Why we are crying is that we were sleeping in our houses around 1 am and 2 am, and we were hearing gunshots. When we woke up, we noticed that our buildings had been burnt down. We are calling on the government to come to our people. We are a small community and we don’t have people
They always attack us, beat up our youths, and lock them up at the police station. The certificates of our graduates have been burnt. We are calling on the state government to help us,” she lamented.
The traditional ruler of the Ikolo community, Gabriel Ezugwu, while briefing journalists, recounts how his community has been locked in a long-standing land dispute which he claimed the successive government has failed to resolve because of powerful persons behind the crisis that have been in government after government.
Ezugwu explained that every November, during the harvesting period, the people of Aku will attack his people and destroy their properties. Regretting that for years the security agencies have not arrested any of the perpetrators because the attackers are being sponsored by a certain politician in the Aku community.
This has been happening before and has been a constant attack. Every November, they come to attack us. Sadly, all these things are happening, but the police have not made any arrests.
“Instead of arresting Aku people who are the aggressors, they will turn around and arrest our people.”
He regretted that before his local vigilantes – neighbourhood watch could arrive at the village where they attacked and repel them, the invaders had burnt down 17 houses with five others completely destroyed.
