The Presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, has lamented on the “disturbing,” “yet another senseless killing of harmless and defenseless villagers” in Nimbo, Uzo Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State on Sunday.
Expressing pain at the recurring killings in Nimbo community, Obi recalled that in 2015, the armed terrorists burnt down the hostel of Mater Amabilis Secondary School Adani which he rebuild and in 2016 murdered several residents of Nimbo.
Sources confirmed that by Sunday, the murdered residents include Okeh Simon Ugwu Oruku, Okeh Chukwuebuka, Julius Ogbonna Odiegwu and Gabriel Ugwor Ezea.
Already, the gruesome killings has thrown the entire village into panic mode as majority have deserted the village for fear of further attacks.
The LP standard bearer therefore said that “we must not allow further spilling of the blood of innocent Nigerians under any guise.”
Declaring that “enough must now be enough,” Obi said “the government should show visible commitment to the security of lives and property of the Nigerian people.”
Commiserating with the people of Nimbo on the killings, the former Anambra State Governor charged security agencies to “be proactive especially as this area has become prone to these attacks and take necessary actions to avert future occurrences.”
The full statement by Obi reads: “I just read reports of yet another senseless killing of harmless and defenseless villagers in Uzo Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State over the weekend. I find the report very disturbing especially recalling that these terror-mongers have continued to unleash terror on the people of Uzo-uwani over the years.
“Uzo Uwani is one of the areas I have closely related with and remained supportive to. I am pained by how these attacks have made the people of the area to live in constant fear of terror and death.
“I recall that in 2015, a hostel of one of the best secondary schools in that area, Mater Amabilis, Adani was completely razed by fire, and the students were without a hostel.
“When I read the reports, I quickly intervened, rebuilt the hostel and handed it over to the School Management by March 2016. A month after that, the people of Nimbo Community in the same Uzo Uwani were senselessly murdered, and this attracted national attention.
“I attended their funeral alongside the Former Governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. I helped in consoling and rehabilitating the victims. My heart, again, goes out to the people of Uzo Uwani who have continued to experience these incessant attacks.
“We must not allow further spilling of the blood of innocent Nigerians under any guise. Enough must now be enough. The government should show visible commitment to the security of lives and property of the Nigerian people.
“Uzo Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State is the main agricultural bed of the state and the continued insecurity there will have far-reaching consequences on food production in the state.
“Security agencies should be proactive especially as this area has become prone to these attacks and take necessary actions to avert future occurrences.
“I sincerely commiserate with the people of Uzo-uwani who lost their loved ones to this cruel attack and indeed all the many victims of insecurity in our nation
“May God Almighty grant eternal rest to the dead, grant quick recovery to the wounded and heal our land bleeding profusely from insecurity. We shall conquer! -PO”