Hoodlums On Rampage In Ebonyi, Destroy 50 Houses, Injure 11
No fewer than 50 houses have been reportedly destroyed by suspected hoodlums in fresh communal clash in Ebonyi State.
The incident, which took place at Ndiefi-Ishieke village in the Ebonyi Local Government Area, threw many innocent members of the community into deep grief and panic.
It was gathered that the hoodlums, numbering over 50, went into 43 compounds situated within a communal land, shot some villagers and destroyed their buildings.
It was learnt that 11 persons were injured and 300 households displaced in the affected community.
Confirming the incident, an indigene of Ndiefi-Ishieke village, Dr. Nwoba Benjamin, who decried the attack unleashed on the villagers by the hired thugs, alleged that the cause of the incident was because the family of Okuku-Ede of Igbojima kindred was laying claim to a communal land.
The claim, according to sources, caused agitation among the villagers.
They insisted that the communal land didn’t belong to a particular family but to every indigene of the affected village.
Benjamin alleged that some key stakeholders of Igbojima kindred were behind the attack on the innocent villagers, who insisted the communal land was not meant for a particular family as many people from the village had over the years gotten a fair share of the communal land.
He further alleged that the thugs were led by Ebonyi LGA Chairman, Chinedu Uburu, as none of the hoodlums have been arrested so far.
According to him, “The thugs from nowhere, on Monday, unleashed mayhem on the villagers that opposed the ownership of the land to a particular family.
“The thugs were hired and were shooting sporadically. They were led by some members of Igbogima kindred. About 100 buildings were destroyed. There’s a communal land in the village, which the community usually share to indigenes of the village, when you grow and get married.
“Okuku-Ede family claimed that it was their land. One of them died and was buried in the Community land even as the community refused such development. At about 3a.m of the fateful day, the thugs started destroying people’s properties. I was reliably informed that SWAT saw them and didn’t do anything.”
