At least four individuals with multiple gunshot wounds have been hospitalized following a midnight attack by gunmen on Saturday in the Umu-Ezuboke Umualor community, located in the Isi-Uzo local government area of Enugu State.
One of the victims, Mr. Methodist Ejiagbo, recounted his harrowing experience from his hospital bed. “Three months ago, some boys from Abakaliki came to my house and threatened to invade us, claiming they would kill me and seize my house and land. One of them, Friday Ukeh, specifically said he would take over my house, calling it the most beautiful one around,” he explained.
Ejiagbo continued, “Yesterday, while returning home, I saw two Hilux vans and a Sienna bus. The occupants were dressed in what looked like police uniforms. They took phones and machetes from our people returning from the farm but spared a young boy, saying he was not from Umu-Ezuboke.
“Then, around 11 pm, they attacked. They started shooting everyone, including me. I tried to resist, but they shot and attacked people with machetes and clubs, breaking some people’s hands. We were caught off guard. A few days earlier, they had come with a talisman in a bag that looked like a Garri sack, which we later realized was a bulletproof sack. They stationed a medicine man at Nwankwo, but our people did not react.
“They came with two Hilux vans and one Sienna. We didn’t go to their place; we are from Umualor, and they are from Amankanu. One of them, Samuel, an Abakaliki man living in Umualor, claimed our land belonged to Amankanu. It was a combined force of Amankanu and Abakaliki people. Samuel Idenyi from Amankanu and Samuel Ede from Abakaliki were among them. They collected phones from our people in the evening and then attacked us at night.
“The man who shot me was Tubor, an Abakaliki man. I recognized others, including Friday Ukeh, Mark Anyigor, Roma Ekpete’s son, and Oshimo’s son. There were over 20 attackers in total.”
As of publication time, the Enugu State Police Public Relations Officer, Daniel Ndukwe, had not responded to inquiries.
