Marauding Herdsmen: Enugu community demands N17bn compensation

To ease the pains they suffer from the inva­sion and killings by Fulani herdsmen, the peo­ple of Nimbo community in Uzo Uwani Local Govern­ment Area of Enugu State have demanded a compen­sation of N17 billion from the Federal Government.

Their demand was pre­sented by the tradition­al ruler of the community, Chief John Akor, when he appeared before the Com­mission of Inquiry set up by the state government to look into the marauding herds­men’s invasion of the town on April 25, 2016.

Akor said: “Our com­munity demands a com­pensation of N17 billion for human loses, unlawful de­struction of property and criminal deprivation of the use of our farms,” he said.

The monarch said that his people also need a trauma hospital to rehabilitate victims of the prolonged herdsmen’s incursions.

According to him, 11 people were killed by the herdsmen during the at­tack while several others were injured, adding that the corpses were still in the morgues.

The News Agency of Ni­geria (NAN) quoted Akor as saying that, “The conclusive evidence of deaths recorded during the incursion stands at 11. The economy of our community has been ruined.

“Part of our prayers is for a combined team of police, the Department of State Se­curity (DSS) and the military to investigate why the inva­sion was not contained in spite of prior information to the effect. We equally request the Federal Government to establish security presence in Nimbo, being a border com­munity,” he said.

Akor further said that as a traditional ruler, he never collected any form of gratifi­cation from the herdsmen to allow them graze in Nimbo, lamenting that the economy of the rural community had been ruined by the activities of the herdsmen.

Similarly, the President-General of Nimbo Town Union, Mr. Mathias Ekere, told the probe panel that the community had coexisted peacefully with the herds­men for over 30 years.

Ekere said that from the onset, different cattle breed­ers resided in their com­munity and “our people in­sisted that each group must have an identification mark. When the arrangement of cattle identification was not working, the herdsmen had to relocate but came back in 2003.

“After they returned, our relationship with them be­came like that of cat and mouse. Our people are al­ways intimidated because the herdsmen often come with sophisticated weapons, order farmers to kneel down and watch their cows graze on cash crops,” he said.

He said that at their re­turn, the herdsmen did not come with their wives and families, but entered the community through Kogi State.

Ekere said that from their experiences, members of the community were still in fear and would no longer want herdsmen in the area.

“Our men were trauma­tised as our wives were raped in our presence. From our soured relationship, we do not want them (herdsmen) again in our land. They should find another place to graze their cattle,” Ekere said.

Prior to the commence­ment of the sitting, the com­mission’s Chief Legal Offic­er, Mr. Richard Udeichi, announced that the Fulani community would present their case on June 27, 2016.