Insecurity: Nigeria Army Invades Community In Ebonyi

According to allegations by Sahara Reporters yesterday, troops of the Nigerian Army allegedly attacked the Nkalaha community in the Ishielu local government of Ebonyi State on Monday morning. As a result, locals are reportedly fleeing the area in large numbers.

The war-torn settlements of Ebor, Umujiovu, and Mgbuji are close neighbors of Nkalaha in Enugu State’s Eha-Amufu Isi-Uzo local government area.

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from the Eha-Amufu village and people of Nkalaha community were forced to run from the soldiers and the herders to Enugu town and Abakaliki, the capital of the Ebonyi State, as a result of the military invasion of the community.

According to prior reports, the Nigerian Army sent hundreds of soldiers into the Obeagu community in the same Ishielu local government area of Ebonyi State.

Following armed herders invasions of the town on March 29, 2021, and October 13, 2022, which claimed 22 deaths, including women and children, they are said to have detained and taken 10 locals who were motorcycle riders and adolescents trained to protect the village.

On one of the community’s Facebook pages, one of the witnesses wrote: “Our community heads, councillor, and commissioner must as a matter of urgency call a town hall meeting for what happened in Nkalaha today. There must be an immediate resolution to the problem so that our community will remain peaceful”

Another community leader, Onyekachukwu Obeagu said that residents were fleeing the military onslaught. “As I speak to you now, my community has been completely deserted. Those who are remaining in the community are hiding in the bushes while some have fled the community.

“I cannot authoritatively say whether anybody was killed or not. Probably after the invasion, we will conduct a head count. Why are soldiers not confronting armed herdsmen that have sacked several communities in Eha-Amufu and rendered the city that has a population of over a hundred thousand desolate?”

College of Education Eha-Amufu deserted as residents flee