A total of eleven persons have been killed following an early morning attack by Fulani herdsmen residents of Opanda community in Uzo Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State.
More than twenty others were left with varying degrees of injuries and are battling for their lives in hospitals in Enugu town.
Though the police said three persons were killed during the attack, community sources said the number was higher, saying up to eleven have died so far.
They were attacked by herders in the early hours of Monday.
An indigene of the community said that some of the victims were rushed to Bishop Shanahan Hospital in Nsukka, adding that they were later referred to the National Orthopedic Hospital Enugu over the seriousness of the injuries.
The attack in Opanda is the third attack on communities in Enugu in less than one month.
Community sources said told StandardObsevers that a week ago, a man was shot dead on his farm by herders when he tried to stop them from grazing their cattle on the farm.
They added that the man’s son escaped and subsequently alerted the residents of the community who rushed to the farm to find the man already dead while the herders fled with their cattle.
The police public relations officer, Enugu State police command, Mr Daniel Ndukwe said those wounded by the herders were receiving treatment at a health facility.
According to him, “Following information received at Nimbo Police Division in the early hours of today, 26/07/2021, alleging that yet-to-be-identified hoodlums attacked some persons in a location at Opanda Village in Nimbo Community of Uzo-Uwani LGA, police operatives attached to the division raced to the scene and found three young men with degrees of machete cuts. They were immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, where they are responding to treatment.
“Meanwhile, the area is calm, while the commissioner of police, CP Mohammed Ndatsu Aliyu, has ordered the conduct of thorough investigations to unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident and bring the perpetrators to book.
“He also calls on residents of the area to remain calm and assist the police with useful information.”
