Herdsmen killings: Farmers desert farms in Nimbo, says Sen Utazi, urges govt urgent intervention

By Agency Report

Sen Chukwuka Utazi who represented Enugu North Senatorial District from 2015 to 2023 in Senate says as result of constant killing of farmers in Nimbo, in Uzo-uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State by suspected herdsmen native and migrant farmers in the area have deserted their farms for fear of being killed.

Utazi said this in a statement signed by himself and available to newsmen on Thursday while reacting to last Sunday (April 28) killings of four farmers in Nimbo by herdsmen.

He said natives, farming settlements and migrant farmers have as result of constant harassments and killings of farmers abandoned their farms for fear of death in the hands of gun-wilding herdsmen.

“Adani, the seat of farming in Enugu State, is now a shadow of its former self. Opanda Nimbo, a cosmopolitan town thickly populated by migrant farmers from all parts of Enugu State and beyond is now totally deserted because of kidnappers and violent herdsmen’, he said.

Utazi urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Peter Mbah to urgently halt the ongoing bloodbath in Uzo-Uwani Local Government of Enugu State perpetrated by armed herdsmen

"Needless killings in the agrarian communities of Uzo-uwani, as seen in the slaughter of four people in Nimbo last Sunday
have turned the area to a killing field and engendered panic among residents.

" Building of a Mobile Squadron Base at Nkpologu would have served as a swift response unit in the face of such security threats.

" But this measure was politically thwarted by the past administration in Enugu State, thereby exposing the vast areas of Uzo Uwani to kidnappers and violent herdsmen,"he said..

The lawmaker expressed sadness that since the 2016 massacre at Nimbo, no week has passed without reports of killings and maiming of natives by rampaging herdsmen.

Utazi, who was the Minority Whip in the 9th Senate, recounted how in the wake of the 2016 massacre in Nimbo, he brought the matter to the Senate Plenaries, which prompted former President Muhammadu Buhari to dispatch IGP Solomon Arase to the scene.

He noted that the IGP approved the commencement and building of the Mobile Squadron Base at Nkpologu and handed the letter personally to governor of the state then.

“On receipt of the letter, the governor convened a meeting to change the location to his preferred site and in the process robbed Uzo-Uwani LGA a project that would have put paid to the constant killings of our people,’Utazi said.

The Senator alleged that the prosecution of the five suspects apprehended in connection with Nimbo killings in 2016 suffered setbacks due to lack of funds by the Enugu State Government for diligent prosecution of the matter in court.

"The immediate past governor set up a panel of inquiry to unravel the immediate and remote causes of the 2016 Nimbo killings, but no follow-ups, my attempts to bring the issue to governor’s attention met with vicious attacks from political sycophants and hired online mob.

" if the suspects arrested in 2016 killings were properly prosecuted, last Sunday attack could have been averted and people of the area could have not been suffering from incessant attacks, kidnap and killing by armed herdsmen.

Utazi explained that Uzo-Uwani has the largest landmass east of the Niger, with numerous water bodies and fertile lands which are major attractions to herdsmen.

‘That the Eastern Region Government sited Adarice Farm Settlement at Adani by Dr M.I Okpara, then Eastern Region Governor, was not by accident or lobby.

‘It was because Adani and environs had comparative advantage over all other parts of the eastern region for agriculture,” he added.

Senator Utazi advised Governor Mbah not to follow the unacceptable path of his predecessor in office in finding a lasting solution to the constant killings of natives on regular basis.

"Gov Mbah should facilitate the handing over of Nkpologu Divisional Police Station to the police in order to make the place functional.

" I built the station with residential quarters, provided a functional borehole and Hilux vehicle as my contributions to fighting insecurity in Uzo-Uwani.

Mbah should revisit the report of the panel of inquiry on the 2016 Nimbo killings and publish a white paper on it.

"As well as direct the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice to track the matter of the five suspects arrested in connection with the 2016 Nimbo massacre and ensure diligent prosecution until justice is duly served," Utazi added.