Warning! This story contains a graphic photo some may find disturbing
By EVELYN USMAN of Vanguard Newspapers
Reports of Fulani herdsmen attacking members of their host communities with
AK 47 rifles and other dangerous weapons have often been treated as a fairy
tale by those saddled with the responsibility of protecting lives and property of
the citizenry.

Recently, Crime Alert published a story of 23-year-old Ogbonna Eze, a
commercial motorcyclist from Opi Community in Nsukka Local Government Area
of Enugu state, whose life was almost snuffed out by two Fulani herdsmen
whom he had conveyed from Opi Junction along Enugu -Makurdi Expressway ,
to their camp at Idodo Agu Ekwegbe, Igbo Etiti local government area on a
special drop.

But midway into the journey, Eze got the shock of his life following an order
from the men for him to stop, on reaching a market close to the camp. But
before he could fathom the reason for the order, he was attacked from behind
with matchet cuts all over his head and was abandoned in a bush part
apparently to die, while his motorbike was taken away by his assailants.
It would also be recalled that the Obi of Onicha-Ugbo in Delta State, Agbogidi,
Victor Chukwumalieze, had three months ago, raised alarm over atrocities of
Fulani herdsmen whom he alleged ravaged farm lands, raped women and
attacked farmers who dared to challenge them.
The Fulani herdsmen said to have fled their home town following activities of
Boko Haram sect in some Northern parts of the country have reportedly
diversified into armed robbery in their host communities with security agencies
accused of looking the other way.

At Ogume, in Ndokwa local government area of Delta state, about 27 persons
were reportedly killed in April after the herdsmen were confronted by Ogume
youths. There has also been reported clashes in between the herdsmen and
youths in Ibusa. Although vigilante groups have been formed in the various
communities around Delta state and other areas bedeviled by these attacks,
unfortunately, they seemed not to be able to match the fire power of these
herdsmen.

Worried by this development in Delta state, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan
established a constitution responsible for the protection of lives of Deltans from
these criminal group that disguise as herdsmen. Even with this on ground, there
seemed to be no end to the attack of Fulani herdsmen.
A recent attack occurred July 21, 2013 when five armed Fulani herdsmen
wielding fully loaded AK 47 rifles, ambushed a 14 seater Hiace bus, travelling
from Onicha-Ugbo to Asaba, Delta state, dispossessing the occupants of their
belongings.

One of the occupants of the bus was Vanguard's Foreign Affairs Editor, Mr
Hugo Odiogor, who escaped death by the whiskers, following the merciless
beatings they received from the herdsmen.

Narrating his ordeal, he said: " It started like a dream as staccato of gun shots
shattered the early morning peace and silence penultimate Sunday. I had
attended the funeral of late Steve Osemeke, former Director of Public Affairs of
Independent National Electoral Commission,INEC who died on June 24, 2013 in
Abuja.The funeral rites began on July 18th and ended on 20th, after he was
committed to mother earth. Thereafter, the visiting parties began to depart. I
had planned to return to Abuja enroute Asaba International Airport.
From Onicha-Ugbo junction, I boarded a Delta coloured Hiace bus heading
towards Asaba/Onitsha at about 7.05am.The journey had lasted only twenty
minutes when five Fulani herdsmen carrying AK 47 rifles jumped out from the
bush at the Ubulu Okiti-Otulu end of the Asaba-Benin Expressway. They
shattered the peace of this dewy Sunday morning with staccato of gun shots
into the air to warn the driver and the occupants of the bus of their intention to
kill anybody that tries to offer resistance.

The gun shots elicited a general shout of "blood of Jesus" from the terrified
occupants of the bus. Each round of shootings was accompanied by a
corresponding response of "blood of Jesus".
With their patched up English language they ordered everybody to "bring out ya
Money or i kill you". They had their faces covered with charcoal, while their
dresses and language obviously tells you that they are cattle rearers. They
carried with them their sticks and machetes.

*Eze attacked along Enugu-Makurdi Expressway recently
Without a whimper, we all handed over whatever money we had on us. I gave
them N45,000 which was to cover my flight ticket and other expenses. We were
ordered to spread ourselves on the express road, faced down to be searched.
They warned us pronto "if I search you and see any money, I kill you". This was
a command that nobody in his right mind would disobey. Promptly, we
undressed; men and women, with only boxers and panties on. As we did so, we
were lashed with the rod they used to shepherd their cattle. Each lash of the
whip was greeted with the shouts of "blood of Jesus".

As if the pains from the long stick was not scotching enough, a slap with the
blade side of the machete landed on my back, wham! One of the co- travellers
warned me: "Oga if you no shout them go shoot you O!'. That warning was well
taken as another blow from the machete landed on my back wham!, I screamed
as much as I could, to convince them that I was really feeling the pain.
As they ransacked our luggage and searched our pockets, they held us to the
ground faced down, with gun shots ringing out intermittently. We were half
dead. The thought in my heart then was either that they would open fire on us
or allow on-coming trailer to crush us all. Fortunately, their gun shots had
warned other vehicles to stay off from the scene of danger.
It was a 30 minutes ordeal which ended with a command from one of them who
said, "let's go".We waited for about three minutes to be sure our tormentors
were gone before we got up from the ground and scampered to find our clothes
from where they were flung.

Confused, scared and traumatized we picked ourselves together but our
telephones and cash were gone. My suitcase containing my mini lap top, tape
recorder, ATM cards, cheque books, shoes, clothes, documents and other
valuables, were gone. I was cashless in the real sense of the word that going
forward was as difficult as going back.

Drama of Police Report
The police arrived five minutes after the criminals had gone. Graciously, they
assisted some of the wounded passengers to Agbor while those of us going to
Asaba were asked to continue with the ill-fated vehicle.

Reporting the incident to the police became another tug of war. At first the
reaction of the victims was to get out of the scene of torment, even when the
police came, we were not interested in reporting our ordeal to them.
On reaching Asaba, my immediate reaction was to get across to my family but
this became a difficult task getting to recall telephone numbers in a confused
and traumatised state of mind. When I eventually got through to my family, my
next task was how to get access to funds to keep things going. It was not until
6 pm that Chief Akaeze Ibonye took me to the police station to make an official
report of the loss of my identity cards and other items which could be found on
the crime scene, as this could make me a suspect instead of a victim.
But at the station, I was warned not to say that the robbers were of Fulani
extraction, that there was a serious effort by security agencies to conceal the
fact that the perpetrators of the crime were from Northern part of the country.
But I objected to that. After much trouble, I was referred to Okpanam police
station because the scene of the incident was not within Asaba jurisdiction.
On Monday, July 22, 2013, I went to a police station at Okpanam which also
declined to enter my report. Instead, I was referred to Isele Uku. On stating my
case, a police officer asked me to lead him to the scene of the crime. This
sounded idiotic as it means that I could as well lead the police man to the
camp of the criminals. The Ozah of Onicha Ugbo Chief Azubukwu Mosindi, told
this reporter that several reports have been made concerning these Fulani boys
but nobody seemed to care.

This was further collaborated by Chief Patrick Onwochei who said the activities
of these herdsmen who terrorize the entire length and breath of Delta State with
impunity. From Isele Uku, I was further referred to Ogwashi Uku, where for the
second time, I was asked not to describe the robbers as Fulani herdsmen. Of
course, I refused, but made my report all the same", he said.
Residents of the area have therefore, called on the Federal and state
government, as well as the Inspector-General of Police to wade into the matter
with a view to checkmating activities of these Fulani herdsmen whom they
described as emerging terrorists.

http://g.radiobiafra.co/news/n-a-r-r-o-w-e-s-c-a-p-e-encounter-with-fulani-herdsmen-in-igboland-the-islamic-takeover-has-started

skinihost alias Chris, i heard you reported me to the mods, to get arodewilliamsT banned. Abeg, Wetin i do now?