•Victims, others narrate heart-rending tales,as Baywood Foundation lifts victims
By Cosmas Omegoh and Sunday Ani
WHEN you visit Nimbo, the Enugu community recently ravaged by Fulani herdsmen, all you see is fear. Tension. It hangs thickly in the air. It is etched all over the residents’ faces. You hear it in their voices.
Right now, the average Nimbo resident is consumed by trauma. Some are still looking for their loved ones many days after the April 25 dawn attack that left about 20 people dead with many houses burnt. Some who lost dear ones to the invaders are still in shock.
Now, there are many Nimbo farmers, who can’t go to their farms anymore. They can’t harvest their crops trapped in the farms, neither can they plant new crops either. They fear some of the attackers are still lurking in the woods. They are scared stiff that the invaders might return to harm them again even with some security agents around. They believe that the marauders are hiding in the bushes separating them from their neighbours in Kogi State. This fear often fuels the rumour that the attackers will be back again. And the moment such rumour pops up, confusion starts.
Nimbo land grows lush, green grasses, which attract the herdsmen and their flock. Sadly, this nature’s gift to the community is increasingly becoming the people’s albatross. The people are in a fix.
But last week, the distraught Nimbo residents had good cause to smile again. They sang and danced. They clapped and cheered. And they had good reasons to be ecstatic. A body, Baywood Foundation, had brought them a truckload of relief materials. The Foundation, owned by Enugu-based businessman, Emperor Chris Baywood Ibe, had sought to intervene in their lives. So, the community responded by saying that part of their need was food since many of them were currently displaced from their own land.
A ghost of its former self
Earlier, when Daily Sun visited Nimbo three days after the attack, the once peaceful and lively community was a ghost of its old self. Most villagers had abandoned their homes and fled to Nsukka and Aku in Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area of the state for safety. Even many days after the attack, the people of Nimbo and neighbouring community of Abbi were still seen leaving their communities in droves, as they were not sure of their safety.
Although a combined team of army, police and operatives of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were seen patrolling through every nook and cranny of the community, most of the people still preferred to leave their homes. They said that since the security agents had prior knowledge that the herdsmen were planning to attack them and did nothing to protect the community, it would be unwise to stay in Nimbo and gamble with their lives.
Investigation revealed that the herdsmen gave the community advance information about the attack. Some members of the community insisted that the herdsmen specifically told them that they would be attacked on that fateful April 25 between 6:00 am and 6:30 am. The herdsmen reportedly promised that if they didn’t come as promised, then they would no longer attack the community. Some other residents maintained that though the herdsmen sent a message ahead of the attack, they were not specific on the day and time.
However, checks revealed that even though the people did not believe the information from the herdsmen, the state government did not take such sensitive information lightly and that was why policemen as well as members of the community’s neighbourhood watch were detailed to guard the community and ward off any such attack a day before the ugly incident. Despite the governor’s efforts to prevent the attack, the herdsmen still had their way, killing many in the process.
When hell visited Nimbo
According to Obata Nnadozie, a native of Ebor Community in Nimbo, who lost his younger brother to the attack, the herdsmen stormed the community about 6:00am, just few minutes after the security agents, who kept watch over the community the previous night left to refresh for the day’s job.
Narrating how it happened, Nnadozie, who is a member of the community’s neighbourhood watch said: “They started from Ngwoko; they moved to Ugwuechara and then to Ebor, where they slaughtered my younger brother.
“We just dispersed after our usual duty of guarding the community overnight. It was about 6:00am when they stormed the community; just few minutes after members of the community’s Neighbourhood Watch and Policemen left their duty post.
“The first victim was one Eze Sylvanus, who was on his way to the farm that morning. They slaughtered him like a ram and went ahead to harvest his heart, which they eventually made away with.”
Information from the villagers revealed that the herdsmen had an informant, who promptly informed them when the security men left the community. The informant was allegedly in the company of the rampaging marauders, as they slaughtered and maimed people as well as destroyed property.
On how they knew that the herdsmen were already in the community mowing people down, Nnadozie said: “I just heard the sound of gunfire repeatedly and I became confused as to what was actually happening. I went outside my house to find out what was happening only to be told that it was some Fulani herdsmen, who had invaded the community. At that point, I gathered members of my family and we ran as fast as we could.”
He said the herdsmen targeted only men and did not enter into the people’s compound to kill. He noted, however, that the herdsmen had already caused confusion in the community by shooting sporadically. He said people went out of their homes and were running in all directions for safety. And since the herdsmen had positioned themselves at strategic locations, people who ran into them were promptly butchered, he recalled.
The reporter learnt that all the people that were killed had their little fingers cut and taken away by the herdsmen.
He said: “The entire community was thrown into pandemonium and as people were scampering for safety, some fell victim, as they ran into the attackers. Once you run into them, you are a dead person and any person they killed would automatically lose his little finger, which they made away with.
“They didn’t tamper with women and children. They killed only men. There was a woman that ran into them but they didn’t hurt her; they only pushed her out of their way and continued. The woman has run out of the community and is yet to return.”
On the actual number of people that were killed, Nnadozie said: “Some children are still missing because in the midst of all the confusion that trailed the attack, parents abandoned their children while children equally abandoned their parents. It was just like a jungle where there is no brother. It was like every man to himself. For instance, it was much later in the day after the incident that I found my two children. I ran with three and the other two ran to a different direction and after the massacre I couldn’t see them. I searched for them and found them later on that day.
“As it stands now, we cannot give an accurate account of those who lost their lives or those who are missing after the attack. But, we can say that about 20 persons are known to have been killed in the attack. Somebody also reported that he heard the cry of a baby, coming from a nearby bush. Some men, alongside members of the vigilante group, stormed the bush and combed everywhere in search of the crying baby but they couldn’t find the baby.
“There is a young man, who just finished his National Youth Service programme and returned home a week before the incident. He was brutally attacked by the rampaging Fulani marauders with a machete. He is in critical condition at a hospital in Enugu where the state governor ordered that he be moved to after seeing his condition. There is another person whose throat was slashed but he didn’t die. He is also battling to survive at a hospital in Enugu. There is another person, who died at the hospital on April 27, as a result of injuries sustained in the attack. So, as it stands now, about 20 persons are confirmed dead but I am not sure because more persons are still on the brink of death at various hospitals where they were rushed to after the incident. Personally, I lost my younger brother, Cyprian Akor, to the incident.”
Why they struck
From investigation, nobody in the community was able to place a finger at what could have angered the herdsmen to the point of brutally attacking the community. However, some people said that their anger could be because the community drove them away since they are in the habit of destroying people’s crops and raping their women in the farm. But they wondered why an incident that happened since July 2, 2015, would lead to such massacre.
They said the herdsmen were driven away from Nimbo on July 2, 2015 after they killed two men in the community for challenging them when their cattle strayed into their farms. Others are also saying that the community was attacked because a certain Fulani Alhaji was killed in a neighbouring community in Kogi State. Such people believe that since the Kogi community borders Nimbo, the herdsmen felt that the Alhaji and his family members were killed by the people of Nimbo, hence the reprisal.
Speaking on the possible cause of the attack, Nnadozie said: “We had problem with them in the past when they killed about four persons from this community. On July 2, 2015, they killed two persons – Parosha and Ozoemea, and in August 2014, they killed Michael and Thaddeus. Also last year, they hired Fulani mercenaries and stormed our farm. One of the mercenaries was referred to as Man Pass Man. He goes about bearing AK47 military assault rifle. If he meets you in your farm, he will yell, ‘What are you still waiting for? Are you not afraid? Won’t you move?’ And as he is firing those questions, he is threatening to shoot you if you don’t leave your farm. And as soon as you leave, he will lead his cattle into your farm and they will destroy your entire crops.
“So, after the July incident last year, we asked them to leave our community and they left. We didn’t kill any of them neither did we kill any of their cattle. The information we got was that one Fulani Alhaji and his family members were killed at Akaju, a neighbouring community with Nimbo but in Kogi State, and because of that, they decided to attack our people. We also heard that they were planning to attack Opanda and Adani communities as a result of the same incident at Akaju in Kogi State.
“When they left Adani without anybody asking them to leave, we started entertaining fears that they were up to some mischievous things but we didn’t expect that it was going to be this deadly. And since that July last year, we have not seen any Fulani herdsman in Nimbo until this attack.”
Ravaged and ruined
Apart from killing, the herdsmen equally torched property, ranging from houses, cars and motorcycles. Some residents said the herdsmen did not burn any church but that they set ablaze the residential house of the pastor of Christ Holy Church (Odozi-Obodo), Rev. Pastor Chukwuemeka Samuel, as well as his car with registration number JJJ188BB parked in the garage within the building. The pastor was lucky to have escaped with his household before they got there. The church is located about 10 metres away from the residential building. But the church was not torched.
They also visited the residence of the Parish Priest of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Nimbo. They tried to gain entrance into the building but they could not. It was gathered that they searched for fuel everywhere to burn down the building but they could not find any, so they resorted to smashing the glasses of the building as well as firing gunshots into the building. They destroyed the Rev. Father’s house.
How we escaped massacre
The Councillor, representing Nimbo Ward 2, in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Council, Hon. Kingsley Ezeugwu, also spoke from the hospital bed in Nsukka where he is recuperating. Ezeugwu figuratively saw death but refused to die. He saw a man he was with the previous night gunned down and butchered to death by the rampaging Fulani marauders. He was encircled by about 40 of the marauders. He knelt in their midst and handed his fate over to his creator. They then descended on him with their machetes on the head, back and hand and when they thought he was dead, they left. But he survived.
With thick bandages on his head, back and palm, Ezeugwu, managed to sit up from his hospital bed to welcome the reporter. He also managed to narrate his experience. He said: “I went home on Sunday, April 24, to pay workers working in my farm. Even one of the workers whom I paid that night was one of the people killed the following day.
“So, on that fateful morning, as I just woke up about 6:00am there were sounds of gunshots everywhere. We were three in the compound that day. One of us jumped through the fence and escaped. The other man was too huge and couldn’t easily scale the fence. So, I was with the man until they approached my compound. When they started shaking the gate to pull it down, I also managed to scale the fence while the huge man escaped through the window. But he was not lucky. They sighted him escaping through the window and followed him. As he was running to escape from them, they fired at him, bringing him down. Then they finished him off with their machetes.
“As I scaled the fence, I went into the bush to hide. They had finished their business and were leaving when they sighted me running. They pursued me and caught me because I was completely exhausted. About 40 of them encircled me, bearing machetes and guns. I knelt down and raised my hands up begging them but they had no mercy. They used their machetes on me, inflicting heavy injuries on my back.
The huge man that was killed was not even from Nimbo. He was from Edem Nsukka. He was only in Nimbo for some works.”
Refugees in their own land
Apart from the dead and the wounded, Daily Sun also met with some families that have taken refuge at Nsukka and they shared their experiences. About 13 of them were living with the family of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Idu at Nsukka. They narrated how they had been surviving since the herdsmen chased them out of their homes. And for Mr. and Mrs. Idu, life has not been easy since the unexpected visitors came into their two-room apartment.
For Ifeoma Ezeako, a native of Ukpabi Nimbo, the Fulani herdsmen have made life unbearable for her and her three children. But she is still grateful that God spared her life and those of her children. She said: “My husband lives in Port Harcourt, so I stay in the village with the children alone. Since the incident, we have been living as refugees with this family. If not for the kindness of the man and his wife, it would have been more traumatising. But I thank God for their magnanimity. They have been taking care of our feeding for the past days that we have been here.”
Agnes Okeji from Ugwuijoro Nimbo also lives in Mr. Idu’s house with her husband and three children. She said: “We were just in our house when we started hearing gunshots. Some people went out and came back to inform us that it was Fulani herdsmen and not the security agents, as we earlier thought. So, we all took to our heels and dashed into the bush without anything. We hid inside the bush but they later invaded the bush. It was then that we ran out of the bush, leaving all our clothes there until we escaped from Nimbo and found ourselves here in Nsukka. People have been assisting us with food and clothing since we got to this place because we came with nothing.”
The story is not different for Ogbobe Agnes, who hails from Owerre Nimbo, although her children took refuge at a different place. She is the only one at Mr Idu’s house. She said: “I am here alone because I initially didn’t want to run. Some of my children ran to Enugu Ezike while others ran to Edem. The information came that we should run for our lives, as Fulani herdsmen had invaded the community. It was just like a war theatre and everybody was just running without looking back for the other. It was a case of saving your life first before trying to save another’s. Since after the civil war, I have not seen a thing like that.”
Ifeanyi Okeji, an SS 1 student in the community, has been out of school since the incident. He also remembered how it all happened. He said: “We just woke up that morning to the sound of gunshots. We later got information that the Fulani herdsmen had invaded our community and that everybody should run. That was how we ran and escaped to Nsukka where we have been living as refugees since that fateful day.”
Mr. Peter Idu and his wife, Benedicta, who have been shouldering the responsibility of accommodating and feeding the displaced Nimbo families, also corroborated what had been said, regarding the manner of the attack and the level of destruction and casualties.
“Since they came, we have just been managing to survive. We rarely feed three times a day, as we used to. In Nsukka as a whole, the people of Uzo-Uwani are known for farming. We don’t lack food in our place but now we are like refugees in our own land. So, whatever we lay our hands on as food, we eat. But on a day that we could not get anything to eat, we remain hungry. That is the situation.”
They appealed to the government to come to their rescue. “Government should also assist the refugees, as quickly as possible. The people in our house need assistance from good spirited Nigerians, non-governmental organisations, corporate bodies as well as government in the area of clothing, feeding and accommodation, among others”
They also requested for adequate security in the community. “Government should provide adequate security for us because the herdsmen come from the forest that borders our community with Kogi State. We need security officers that would be stationed there permanently and not the ones that would come and go. If the security agents that were guarding our community did not leave that morning, they wouldn’t have attacked us. But because they were not permanent, they had to leave. And as soon as they left, the attackers swooped on the helpless villagers,” they said.
Igwe reacts
When the traditional ruler of Nimbo community, Eze Nimbo, His Royal Highness, John Ako, Igwe Agaba Idu, was contacted, he said the entire community was shocked by the number of casualties. He described it as one attack too many.
He put the figure of those who were killed at 13, according to government record but stressed that some were still at various hospitals in Enugu.
Asked if the community had any problem with the herdsmen prior to the attack, he said: “We have been having problems with them over the way and manner they graze their cattle in our farmlands. Our community is known for farming but when they come with their cattle, they would enter into the farms and destroy all the crops. They have killed about four people in the past but we have never killed any of them or their cattle. In fact, we have never fought them. We only asked them to leave our community since they cannot stay without destroying our crops.”
On the report that the herdsmen wrote a letter to him, informing him of their plans to attack the community, he said it was a text message that he received in that regard. He also said he was not sure of the information that the herdsmen that attacked his community had a police informant as being circulated by most villagers.
He also dismissed reports that churches and people’s houses were burnt during the attack, saying that only the residential house, belonging to the pastor of Christ Holy Church, was burnt. “The only house that was burnt during the attack was the house of the pastor of the Christ Holy Church (Odoziobodo). They also went to the residence of the Catholic priest of St. Mary’s Parish, Nimbo, but couldn’t burn the house; they only smashed the window glasses. They also burnt one bus and few motorcycles,” he said.
On the current state of Nimbo, he said: “Normalcy has returned and the people that fled are gradually returning home. There is a combined team of army, police and NSCDC, which patrols the community on a 24-hour basis since after the attack.”
He expressed gratitude to the state governor, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, for his prompt response and assistance to the community. He also thanked the senator, representing Enugu North, Chukwuka Utazi, the local government chairman, Cornel Chijioke Onwubuya, as well as the Enugu State Emergency Management Agency (ENSEMA) and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) for their support to the community.
…And Baywood Foundation brings succour
Perhaps, for the first time since the incident, the people had cause to smile again. Those who survived the mindless massacre trooped out in their numbers, with their faces lit up with laughter, as a non-governmental organisation, Baywood Foundation, had brought them a truckload of relief materials. The Foundation is owned by an Enugu-based businessman, Emperor Chris Baywood Ibe,
On the day the relief items were brought to Nimbo, the presentation ceremony was brief. Leading the party was the Foundation’s founder, Emperor Ibe, followed by the immediate past Minister of Aviation, Mr. Osita Chidoka. There was also the senator, representing Enugu North in the Senate, Senator Chuka Utazi. Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Ben Nwoye, and the party’s governorship candidate in Enugu State during the last election, Mr. Okey Ezea, were also in Nimbo, alongside the Uzo-Uwani Local Government Chairman, Cornel Onwubuya.
Those who spoke on the occasion condemned the unwarranted attack on the defenceless Nimbo people and asked for justice. They also called on the Federal Government to seek a speedy end to the incessant herdsmen attacks on the citizenry.
Now, going to Nimbo from Enugu is a difficult endeavour. Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area, which Nimbo community is part of, lies on the north-western fringes of Enugu State. After nearly an hour, travelling on the Enugu-Makurdi Road, one veers off to the left and heads to Nsukka.
Then from Nsukka, one goes south-west on the lonely road leading to Anambra and Kogi states, passing through Obimo, Nkpologun before reaching Nimbo. The air, as one presses on the narrow road, is both pure and humid, the vegetation most alluring. Chains of wooded, breath-taking hills, which intermittently come into view contribute to the scenic splendour of the area. They deceptively suggest that the residents are at peace with nature. But Daily Sun was told that the area is the epicentre of crime. And now with the recent onslaught of Fulani herdsmen, the people have a handful.
The home of the traditional ruler of Nimbo, Eze John Ikemefuna Alor, the Agaba Idu of Nimbo, is a few strides away from the main road, running through central Nimbo. As a mark of respect, the convoy stopped over at his palace to pay homage.
“We are here to identify and show our solidarity to you and the good people of Nimbo,” Emperor Baywood Ibe said. “We have heard about the plight of the people; so we are here to commiserate with you and to give the people our widow’s mite. We pray that this sort of misfortune doesn’t happen again.”
The relief materials included 50 bags of rice, eight giant gags of beans, seven bags of salt, 30, 50 kg gallons of vegetable oil and 100 cartons of noodles.
Speaking on the occasion, Chidoka, one-time Corps Marshall of the Federal Road Safety Corps, (FRSC) said: “What has happened is very bad. We pray that it doesn’t happen again.
“We are not asking the people to go on a revenge mission. When an Igbo man kills, he commits sacrilege. Venerable writer, Chinua Achebe, buttressed that in his book, Things Fall Apart, when Okonkwo mistakenly killed and had to be banished.
“We have come here to commiserate with you so that the souls of the dead will be happy with us. But we will not shut our mouths over this incident. We will continue to condemn it and press for due process to be followed on a matter like this. We are happy that President Muhammadu Buhari has said that efforts would be made to ensure that this does not happen again.
“We are consoled by the fact that no power is greater than the power of God. So, we will continue to pray for the souls of the departed and peace in the community.”
Responding, the royal father thanked Baywood Foundation for its kind gesture. “We thank you for this rare show of love and solidarity. It is heart warming that Emperor Baywood, though a businessman, graciously brought all this to our people. Indeed, we are glad.
“What happened to our people on April 25 was unimaginable. Recalling it makes me sad,” he said.
From there, the party headed for the remote part of Nimbo where the killings took place. It was about 20-minute drive through an unpaved, dusty, bumpy road, which seemed to descend endlessly. Vast swaths of arable land lay on both sides of the road, spreading out like faded green blanket in the distance. Then, at some point, the first hamlet is sighted; then progressively the road hits Eke Nimbo square. There, the no fewer than 3,000 residents – men, women and youths were waiting. A detachment of soldiers was there too, keeping watch.
Nimbo residents are predominantly farmers. They grow okra, maize, cassava, yam, beans, rice and a lot more food crops. They also breed cattle, including native Igbo cows. Being too removed from the urban communities, they seem to find it difficult evacuating their produce, which would have sold for greater profit.
One of the residents who spoke to Daily Sun on the plight of the farmers was Daniel Ogbonna. “We cannot go to the farms anymore,” he said “The Fulani are still there in the bushes. Some are living there permanently. So, everyday we gather to discus what happened to us. Now, the farming season is here. I pray we don’t die of hunger.”
Recalling how the community was upstaged on that fateful April 25, he said: “We had received prior information that the Fulani would attack us. So, we began to keep vigil with the support of the police. Once it was 7pm, we all came out to defend our community. We usually dispersed at 6am. But on that very day, they arrived at 7am, soon after people had begun going to their respective businesses.
“They entered through a village called Ngwoko and began killing people silently. But a lad saw them and ran to notify the villagers. When they realised that we had known that they had arrived, they began shooting sporadically. Those who encountered them first were all killed; people going to their farms at that hour were also killed. There were corpses everywhere. Because they took us unawares, they began chasing us around, killing and burning houses. When they were done, they disappeared through Ngwoko.”
He recalled that over time, Nimbo community had, had rough patches with the herdsmen, who usually invaded farmlands with their herd and destroyed crops. He said in the past three years, misunderstandings between the farmers and the Fulani herdsmen had resulted in deaths of the former but expressed shock at the manner in which they invaded the community and killed people the way they did.
Speaking to our correspondent, Rev. Emmanuel Okoli, a missionary living at Nimbo recalled that when the attack began he was asleep. “I was woken up by the ringing of the village bell. Anytime that bells rings, know that something serious has happened. When I rushed out, I saw people running helter-skelter. So, I began running myself. People were massacred. Even yesterday, it was rumoured that the Fulanis had come again and we began running again.
“As I speak to you, many people in this village are displaced. Some are yet to be found. One of them is my daughter, who is 13 years. We can’t find her anywhere. Her whereabouts to us still is a conjecture. We have gone to some of the neighbouring communities, looking for her. But we believe that she is safe since so many others have not returned. “After the attacks, I lost appetite for food. I only take water to sustain myself. I can’t eat because I am yet to set my eyes on my daughter.”
Another resident, Pastor Bath Ike, who is also a farmer, alleged that over the years, the herdsmen had been a torn in the flesh of the community, raping women in the bush, destroying farm crops, and beating up people who dared them. “At some point, they started threatening us, warning that we were disturbing their business. They even sent an oral message to some of us and sent a text message to our traditional ruler, alerting him that they were coming. The whole message was communicated to the local government chairman and the police.
“Then on April 25, they invade us, burnt one church and vandalised two others, burnt houses, cars and motorcycles. Now, we don’t know how many people that were killed because a lot of people are still missing. “Right now, we are afraid, particularly when we recall how they butchered those they killed. In a characteristic manner, they cut off each victim’s thumb. They cut some open right into their hearts; some they slashed their throats.”
While condemning the sad incident, Emperor Baywood Ibe urged the people not to take the law into their hands. “I’m happy that President Muhammadu Buhari has taken a position on this development and has directed the security agencies to see to the challenge. I do believe that Mr. President and other agencies of government are taking the situation very seriously.”o