By Idahosa Musa
Residents of Odamen-Ekperi Community in Etsako Central Local Government Area in Edo State of Nigeria have revealed why they decided to raise the alarm about impending herdsmen attack and subsequently fled their homes.
According to them, some farmers in the communities saw some suspected bandits in the forest with guns, threatening to invade Odamen-Ekperi at night.
They, however, said that there was no actual attack on the community by the suspected herdsmen, adding that their fear arose from the claims of some Tiv settlers in Odamen-Ekperi’s bush, hence, they deserted their homes.
It would be recalled that the news of an attack in Odamen-Ekperi and Iyerekhu Communities in Etsako West Local Government Area in Edo went viral on social media last Tuesday evening, claiming that many people had been killed by suspected herdsmen while many others were seen deserting the communities.
A visit to the communities by Alltimepost.com correspondent on Thursday morning to assess the situation, revealed that normalcy was gradually returning as some residents were seen carrying out their normal activities while the youths were seen being recruited into the vigilante group.
Some residents of Odamen-Ekperi who spoke with our Correspondent said that upon receiving the information about the attack, the people of the community were promptly evacuated to a neighboring community for safety.
“Men armed with various guns, suspected to be herdsmen were approaching this community (Odamen-Ekperi) for destruction like they claimed that they will wipe away this community.
“The news was actually brought to us by Tiv settlers in the forest who have an encounter with them (the suspects).
“And that was why as last night no casualty was recorded because we have to evacuate almost everybody, 95% of people in this community were evacuated to the neighboring community for safety.
“Because the people got the information early enough, they themselves (suspects) withdrew. Our vigilantes went in search for them and they couldn’t find any of them as at that time.
But we are afraid because we don’t know the manner in which they will come again”, Dr. Buddy Mustapha, a resident of the community said.
Also speaking, one of the community Chiefs, Abubakar Aliu said: “It was just an attack, we discovered that it was the herdsmen, they invaded one of the camps in the bush, and made away with some foodstuffs. That was why they were shooting guns sporadically into the air”.
“The herdsmen went to the Tiv Camp and immediately they got there, they started shooting apparently to scare the people away.
“The Tiv people later took to their heels. At the end of the day, the herdsmen went to their (Tivs) stores, broke them and went away with some of their drinks.
“We tried to trace the direction they followed, but we could not as we searched for them all through the night.
“Since we could not find them, we decided to go back to our community and secure it”, Aneru Ganiyu, revealed
According to Abu Kadiri, some of the people are yet to return to the community over fear of attack.
However, during Alltimepost.com fact-finding mission, members of the Edo State Security Network Corps, led by the Edo North Commander, arrived at the Community to ensure the safety of the residents as they immediately held a meeting with the people.
Speaking with Alltimepost.com, shortly after the meeting, Aneru Abdullai Abdul, Edo North Coordinator, said: “Thank God they did not kill anybody.
“They just came out to shoot guns, they shot sporadically, and we ran different directions before we later reinforced and came back to the community.
“So, this morning, we are still here and we want to go into the bush to look for them”.
As at the time of filing this report, the vigilante members were seen going into the forest to search for the suspected bandits.
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