By Tochi Onyeubi
The people of Obudi Agwa in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo state have been living in fear, following the arrest of suspected herdsmen caught with a sack filled with bullets.
Confirming the incident, the traditional ruler of the community, Eze Ignatius Asor, said the suspect have since been handed over to the police area command at Egbema.
Informing Journalists on what happened, he said, the ugly incident was discovered when youths of the community accosted two herders. While the one with gun escaped, the other denied, claiming to have garri in the sack, which when opened, was discovered to be bullets.
It was also gathered that, the community has a neighbouring community, Obokofia, where herdsmen apologized and asked to be forgiven after shooting sporadically last week when they were asked to leave.
The traditional ruler of Obudi Agwa, Eze Asor said he is torn with the latest activity and growing tension, as members of his community are living in fear, having seen that herders are now armed.
“Herdsmen have invaded my community and my people are doing things in fear now. As you know, these people are armed to the teeth. I have reported the matter to the Area Commander here. He even saw more than one thousand cows invading the community. The story you heard is the truth and I don’t know the next step to take.”
“They stay in our bush and do whatever they like, they destroy our crops as they move around, causing pains to our people, especially the farmers. The funniest thing is that I don’t know where they got their instruction from. They do things with impunity and I can’t understand.” He complained.
When contacted, PPRO Ikeokwu confirmed the incident. He informed that, the suspect has been arrested and detained, while investigations are ongoing into the matter.
