Leaders of Mbaugwu-Uturu community in Isikwuato Local Government Area of Abia State have denied any involvement in the abduction and killing of five Fulani herdsmen by suspected gunmen at the weekend.
The herdsmen were allegedly abducted in the bush when their cattle grazed on some farmers’ crops in the community.
The South East Chairman of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Alhaji Gidado Siddiki told our correspondent that the kidnap of the herdsmen was manipulated by the local vigilantes in the incident, but in a reaction, the President-General of Mbaugwu-Uturu Community, Mr. Maduike Damian, refuted Siddiki’s allegation.
He said, “The act was not carried out by our people and we have mobilised our youths to assist the police in fishing out the culprits. I married from the North, so I wouldn’t support any act that will bring us on a collision course with the Fulani. The report available to me has it that there are a group of hoodlums living in that bush for about a year now. I was surprised.”
In his own narration, Alhaji Siddiki had claimed that two herdsmen were first abducted before three others were taken by a gang of vigilantes.
He added, “Some gangs who claimed to be vigilantes in Ngodo, Mbaugwu-Uturu community, Abia State, invaded the camp of two Fulani herdsmen and abducted them. Their cows, as a result, were scattered in the bush. When they didn’t return to the camp the following morning, their colleagues at a general camp thought that they missed their way.
“So, three persons went to search for them. Sadly, the three were equally abducted by the same gang as they went without weapons. We went to Okigwe Divisional Police Station, Imo State, to report the matter but they said that that area is not under their jurisdiction. So, we went to Isikwuato Police Division, they also declined having jurisdiction there. We had no option than to report to the military in Abia State.”
In an earlier twist to the story, the Department of State Security (DSS) had fingered the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) over the kidnap and killing of the five Fulani herdsmen whose bodies were later discovered at the Umuanyi forest in Abia State, where they were suspected to have been killed.
In a statement released by Tony Opuiyo, DSS spokesperson on Saturday, the security agency had said, “The Service has uncovered the heinous role played by members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), in the abduction/kidnap of five Hausa-Fulani residents, namely Mohammed Gainako, Ibrahim Mohammed, Idris Yakubu, and Isa Mohammed Rago at Isuikwuato LGA in Abia State.
“The abducted men were later discovered at the Umuanyi forest, Abia State, where they were suspected to have been killed by their abductors and buried in shallow graves, amidst 50 other shallow graves of unidentified persons. Arrest and investigation conducted so far revealed that elements within the IPOB carried out this dastardly action.”
When contacted over the development, the Abia State Police Public Relations Officer DSP Ezekiel Onyeke Udeviotu, said the incident does not fall within the jurisdiction of the state. (Daily Trust)
