Olayomi Koiki
ENUGU – The body of a farmer killed by suspected Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria’s Enugu state, was reportedly recovered in his farm.
The victim was identified as Igwe Nwa Eke, from Ebor Community in Eha-Amufu Isi-Uzo local government Area of the southeastern state.
No fewer than three farmers were killed in the Mgbuji community in Eha-Amufu, by the armed herdsmen in renewed attacks on Friday, KOIKI Media had reported on Friday. Several others were also reported wounded in the attacks.
Suspected Fulani militias had sacked over 20 farm settlements in Eha-Amufu communities and killed no fewer than 123 local farmers between 2019 and 2022, and destroyed hundreds of properties worth millions of naira, according to local newspaper The Punch.
However, the latest incident happened on Saturday, according to locals.
In a video clip that went viral on Sunday, residents of Ebor Community could be seen lamenting their abandonment by government and security agencies while the carnage exacerbated.
The victim brought home in a tricycle as seen in the video had several matchet cuts and three bullet wounds.
Voices in the video clip said he was killed inside his farm where he went to harvest his yam crop on Saturday, but his body was recovered on Sunday by youths of the Ebor community.
“This is the corpse of our brother we found in the farm killed by Fulani herdsmen. His name is Igwe Nweke. We have come to the traditional ruler to show him the corpse of our brother killed. This is what we saw in our farmland because we cannot do anything or retaliate without getting permission from the authorities controlling the Ebor autonomous community led by the traditional ruler, one of the leaders of the community said in the video.
“Our people, you have seen how it is unfolding. Ekele Nweke was shot yesterday, and his brother, Igwe Nweke, is now shot dead. Why we are showing this is for people to see what is going on in our Ebor autonomous community in case our youths decide to revenge. Look at what was done to us without provocation.
“We have been angered and whatever we can do to ensure that Fulani herdsmen don’t continue killing our people, we are ready to do that… We cannot allow invaders to continue killing our people while government and security agencies pay no attention. Those who come to our community are now the ones killing us. We are here to show the monarch what happened before going to the morgue but he is not around.
“We were told he went to Enugu. If we take revenge, the government and security agencies should not blame us. Since these renewed attacks started, we haven’t seen Nigerian security agencies intervene. In short, prior to this recent attack, the authorities withdrew soldiers in Eha-Amufu strategic places. Probably, the military authorities are in collusion with the attackers.”
Responding on behalf of the traditional ruler, the Prime Minister, Chief Joseph Ohabuenyi, decried the attacks which he described as “unprovoked” as the victims were shot in their farms.
“We received information of the renewed Fulani attacks on Saturday in our farmlands. In the beginning, we saw one person who was shot in the hand. Later, we heard that there was another person who had not been seen. Since yesterday, we have been looking for him,” Ohabuenyi said.
“This morning, we gathered people and formed search parties to go to the farms. Now, we have seen the corpse of one of our brothers that were shot on Saturday. We are crying so that the whole world will hear what is happening to our people. They are killing us like animals. Government should help us, we are dying. If you leave us, we don’t know what will happen next. Every living must go out to look for what he will eat. We will not stop going to our farms to harvest our crops and find food.”
The Enugu State Police Command’s spokesman Daniel Ndukwe could not confirm the incidents.
“I don’t have any reports on such incidents yet,” Ndukwe said.
For more than a decade, civilians in Nigeria have faced multiple security threats and risk of atrocities as result of attacks, kidnappings and extortion by various non-state armed groups.
Since the start of 2024 civilians have faced intensified violence across Nigeria, and near-daily attacks by armed groups resulting in kidnappings and other abuses against civilians.
Armed groups and gangs, including so-called “bandits,” have – for many years – perpetrated widespread atrocities, including murder, rape, kidnapping, organized cattle-rustling and plunder. Armed herdsmen are also destroying vast swaths of farmland, prompting many farmers to abandon their land out of fear of attack.
The conflict between Fulani herdsmen and farmers in Nigeria has been a longstanding issue, resulting in violence and loss of lives.
The Fulani people are believed to be the largest semi-nomadic group globally, found across West and Central Africa. In Nigeria, some continue to live as semi-nomadic herders, while others have moved to cities. Unlike city dwellers, the nomadic groups spend most of their lives in the bush and are often involved in clashes with farming communities, and also engage in kidnapping for ransom. They herd their animals across vast areas, frequently clashing with local farmers.
The herders now bear sophisticated weapons and use them to terrorize many parts of the country, with security operatives ignoring many of the attacks for allegedly not getting orders to go after the criminals.
Several brutal attacks happened under former President Muhammadu Buhari, who was born to a Fulani family on 17 December 1942, in Daura, a town in Katsina State, northwest Nigeria.
The continuous unprovoked attacks triggered resistance in South-East region, inhabited by Igbo people and South-West region, inhabited by the Yoruba people.
A Yoruba activist and philanthropist, Chief Dr Sunday Adeyemo, aka Sunday Igboho, demanded end to the attacks that have cost lives of thousands. He asked the Fulani people to vacate all the forests in South-West Nigeria.
As the Akoni Oodua of Yorubaland, he is known for fighting for the rights of the Yorubas. He is currently advocating for a sovereign Yoruba country.