- Eziama Obiato Mbaitoli in Imo state reportedly now deserted
Okpoga community in Benue state is reportedly currently under attack by suspected Fulani herdsmen.
A message from a distressed member of the community accessed by our correspondent said: Fulani is back again! They came down to the village, so the youths faced them and told them to leave the village. They now started shooting and they are a great host! Only God will come for us! Our villages has become a wilderness!! No single soul is left in the village oo! Soldiers are still bringing out corpses!”
According to Emmanuel Ogebe, an international human rights lawyer, the community was attacked last Easter by the Fulani militia who allegedly slaughtered 52 indigenes.
“I went on factfinding mission to this very community after the Easter massacre. Their village was occupied by Fulani for one month raping and looting before it progressed to killing. The army was invited. They came and left after 45 minutes. Then the Fulani massacred 52 people. The whole village was deserted when I went. Apparently the later returned and this happened again.” he said.
This is even as in spite the outcry generated by the recent launch of a Fulani vigilante group in Lafia, Nasarawa State capital, given the worrisome security implications, the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), headed by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, went to register a group known as Nomad Vigilante Nigeria Ltd.
Likewise, Eziama Obiato Mbaitoli in Imo state is reportedly now deserted following a faceoff between the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the joint military task force since the Monday morning.
The fierce gun battle battle between the duo was said to have left many dead.
In the meantime, a yet-to-be-ascertained number of travelers from Umuahia, Abia States, in two luxury buses have been kidnapped in Inyele Eteke in the Olalamaboro Local Government Area of Kogi State.
PUNCH gathered that the incident happened on Friday, February 3, 2024.
A social media influencer, Chude Nnamdi, who broke the news on his X handle, said that the two buses belong to GIG and ABC Transports.
Chude said that his wife was in one of the hijacked buses but could not ascertain the number of persons in the two buses.
The Kogi State Police Command, while confirming the incident, also could not ascertain the number of people in the buses.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, SP William Aya, said the area commander who led his team to the area saw the two buses but did not see the occupants and, therefore, could not ascertain the number of people on the two buses.
“Yes, the incident happened, but the DPO, local vigilantes, and hunters have been in the bush in an effort to rescue the victims” Aya said in a statement issued on Monday in Lokoja.
The PPRO added, “The CP has deployed additional Tactical Squad consisting of Quick Response Unit, Police Mobile Force, Counter-Terrorism Unit, as well as conventional police personnel to the area to continue with the bush combing and to ensure all victims are rescued unhurt.”
“The report reaching me this morning is that a GIG and ABC transport buses heading to Abuja were hijacked by kidnappers yesterday in Kogi State.
“The GIG bus left Umuahia at 7:30am and was hijacked at Kogi State. GIG company said they have contacted security services and they are tracking them. The kidnappers phoned this morning via my wife’s phone and were demanding N15 million,” Chude said.
As the insecurity across the nation ravages unabated a number of multinationals in Nigeria are reconsidering their operations while updating staff members on the highly volatile sections,
Also, contrary to reports by security agencies and the government that they played a role in rescuing the schoolchildren and teachers of the Apostolic Faith Group of Schools in Emure-Ekiti in Emure LGA, parents of kidnapped pupils said fried rice, black bullets, energy drinks, milk and N15 million were offered to secure the release of their children.
This is equally at variance with another version of the rescue report that they were “rescued” by Amotekun and local hunters using drones and modern technology.
