Scores killed as herdsmen attack Enugu community, residents flee homes.

Tension is high in Ukpabi, Nimbo in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, following the invasion of the town by Fulani herdsmen.

 It was reported that the herdsmen, who were armed with dangerous weapons, stormed the town in their numbers, Monday morning, shooting any person in sight.

Although details of the attack were still sketchy, a source disclosed that survivors had fled to neighboring communities of Nkpologu, Uvuru and Nsukka.

The Police Public Relations Officer in Enugu State, DSP Ebere Amaraizu, who confirmed the incident, said a team of police and the army had been deployed to the area.

It could be recalled that tension started mounting in the town over the weekend when reports spread across the State that herdsmen were plotting to invade the community and displace residents for cattle-grazing.

It was gathered that the herdsmen at Adani had, weekend, imported 500 others from Nasarawa State to help them invade the community on grounds that some of their cattle were missing.

Consequently, the Chairman, Transition Committee, Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area, Cornell Onwubuya, had on Saturday convened an emergency meeting in Enugu.

Onwubuya said the meeting was convened to address the allegation that herdsmen planned to import about 500 of their tribesmen to enable them invade some communities in the area.

He noted that local leaders of the Fulani community also confirmed that there were attempts to bring in mercenaries for the attack on the communities, adding that the Fulani leaders in Enugu had complained that some of their people were killed within the axis of Ukpabi Nimbo and Abbi communities in the recent past.

In his speech at the meeting, Enugu State leader of the Fulani community, Alhaji Haldo Saidu Baso said that he had lived in Enugu State for over 33 years and would not be alive to witness the type of crises that they were talking about.

The Fulani community later resolved to talk to their people in the state not take the laws into their hands.

Baso said: “We will travel to Nasarawa State to talk to the cattle owners and stakeholders to warn the rustlers in Enugu State to stay away from trouble.”

However, Monday’s early morning attack shows that the truce brokered by Onwubuya and the Fulani community leader failed to yield the expected result.