Christopher Isiguzo in Enugu
The Inspector General of Police (IG), Solomon Arase, has dispatched forensic experts and a team of investigators to the troubled Ukpabi Nimbo community in Uzouwani Local Government Area of Enugu State where scores of people were killed last month when suspected Fulani herdsmen invaded the community.
Commissioner of Police in the state, Emmanuel Ojukwu, disclosed during his maiden press conference that the team had been mandated to unravel the immediate and remote causes of the invasion and ensure that all those involved in one way or the other are not only fished out but made to face the law.
Ojukwu said the police was committed to ensuring that all those who were gruesomely murdered got justice, disclosing that already steps have been taken by the police to forestall a repeat of such dastardly act in the state.
“Our job is to find who killed those innocent people. Everybody is clamouring for justice on the matter. As I speak, good investigators backed with forensics have been sent to Nimbo, by the time we are done, you all will see that a good job has geen done as no stone will be left unturned,” he said.
On the police corporal, one Chukwu who was said to have tipped off the invaders on the security situation in the community before they struck, the police commissioner said investigation was still on, noting that “until he is found guilty, he is still presumed innocent.
“His conduct is being x-rayed, we are conscious of the activities of our officers, search light has been beamed on him and once he’s found culpable, he will certainly go in for it,” he noted.
On whether any of the suspected herdsmen had been arrested, Ojukwu said though a number of arrests had been made, he would not speak further on the matter until the team of investigators were through with their jobs.
Meanwhile, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Enugu State chapter, has rejected the proposed bill for grazing reserve in the country, describing it as a “private business” that should not be allowed to see the light of the day.
The association made its stance known at the Government House, Enugu during a peaceful protest to condemn and register their grievances over the unfortunate incident of killing, maiming, raping and destruction of property of innocent people of the state by suspected Fulani herdsmen, especially the recent attack on Nimbo, Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area.
Addressing Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi who received them, the state Chairman of CAN, Rev. Christian Obiefuna who was accompanied by other notable clergymen such as the Archbishop of the Ecclesiastical Province of Enugu (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma, the Archbishop of Methodist Church of Nigeria, Enugu Diocese, Most Rev. Fr. Christopher Ede, among others, urged the federal government not to allow the passage of the alleged bill because of the public outcry and its threat to the peace and unity of the country.
The association also commended Ugwuanyi for his stewardship, path to peace and recourse to God through prayers, especially during the period of the Nimbo crisis, stressing that the governor “did not abandon his people.”
