FILE PHOTO: A herdsman in Nigeria
Amnesty International has called on the Buhari Government to take adequate steps towards the protection of lives and property in communities susceptible to attacks and clashes between nomadic herdsmen and farming communities.
The human rights group called on the Federal Government to investigate this serial bloodletting between herdsmen and agricultural communities, make adequate provision for the protection of life and property in the areas at risk, and bring those responsible to justice through fair trials without recourse to the death penalty.
The deadly attack on Nimbo and Ukpabi communities in Enugu state on 25 April, which killed at least 12 people and injured several others displays a callous disregard for human life, the rights group said in a statement on Friday.
“This attack highlights the urgent need for the government of Nigeria to take immediate steps to protect the lives and property of people threatened by the armed clashes between nomadic herdsmen and farming communities.”
On Monday, 25 April, around 7am, dozens of armed men attacked Nimbo and Ukpabi communities in Enugu state. Armed with guns, bows, arrows, and machetes, they killed at least a dozen and injured at least 10 others, according to eye witnesses and a staff of the hospital which received the dead. Villagers told Amnesty International that the attackers came, approximately 30 minutes after policemen drafted to protect the communities left.
One woman in the community told Amnesty International, “I ran away to the neighbouring community. I later heard the following day that my brothers have been killed. I came to Nsukka to meet them still alive in the hospital. They were seriously injured. One of them will have his hands amputated. I don’t even know if he will survive.”
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Nsukka Area Command, told Amnesty International that …Read More
Source:: PM Newspaper
