•Hospital, 30 houses burnt
No few than eleven persons have been killed in Inikiri Effium, Ohaukwu local government area of Ebonyi State by suspected warlords.
The people of Effium and Ezza Effium in the local government, have been at war since January 2021 with many lives lost and properties worth billions of naira destroyed.
Five NELAND Engineers engaged by the state government for a road project in the community were abducted by the warlords and beheaded when the war took another dimension.
Some soldiers sent to the community for peace keeping were also abducted and have not been seen till today.
Governor Francis Nwifuru, set up panel to investigate the crisis with a view to resolving it.
But children between two and 12 years and a pregnant woman were massacred by warlords,who invaded Inikiri in the community.
The deceased were among the 11 persons that were killed by the warlords on Thursday .
A resident of the area, Pastor Freeman Nwonu,told Daily Sun, that the warlords invaded the community at about 2:pm and shot sporadically till 6:pm without soldiers stationed in the area for peace keeping stopping them.
He noted that a health center built for the community by international organization, AMURT foundation and about 30 residential houses were razed by the warlords during the invasion.
“Yesterday being May 1,2024, Uffium warlords attacked our people from 2 pm till 6pm and they killed eleven persons and the buildings they burnt there were about 30 buildings including a hospital that was built for us by AMURT foundation, an international organization.
“The most annoying thing is that soldiers that were deployed there for peace keeping didn’t do anything to stop them. They were there till the end of the whole thing and even denied that nothing happened in our community that yesterday”, he stated.
A stakeholder in the community, who did not want his name in print,said the incident happened very close to his house and lamented the massacre.
Ebonyi State Police Public Relations Officer( PPRO)DSP Joshua Ukandu, said he has not received any information concerning the incident.