Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State says refusal of residents of Nimbo community to return home, after the April 25 Fulani herdsmen invasion has hindered government’s plans to set up Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps.
Ugwuanyi made the disclosure in Enugu on Monday, while addressing anti-herdsmen protesters made up of a coalition of 13 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) and women from Nimbo community.
He said that the people who ran away from the community at the wake of the suspected herdsmen invasion had refused to return home.
“We want to set up internally displaced persons’ camps, but we have not seen the people that will be there.
“But if your people will agree to come, we will do something about it.”
Ugwuanyi said that he handled the crisis with the highest level of patriotism in order to save the country from avoidable unrest.
“I wanted to safeguard our people and the foreigners among us. That is why I did not speak.
“Our people are peaceful and we need to wait for the outcome of the judicial panel of inquiry.”
Earlier, the leader of the protesters, Mrs Joy Onyenso, said that they stood in solidarity with the women of Nimbo who had been rendered homeless by the crisis.
Onyenso said that they appreciated the governor’s quick response to the challenge, adding that residents of the state would remain grateful to him.
She, however, appealed to the governor to further assist the women who could no longer cater for their needs as well as assist to bring back those who ran away to neighbouring states.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some of the women carried placards with the inscriptions: ‘We demand accountability’, ‘God save our country’, ‘Orphans and widows are suffering’.
It would be recalled that suspected herdsmen had on Monday April 25 struck Nimbo community in Uzo Uwani Local Government Area of the state, killing scores of residents. (NAN)
•Photo shows Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi commierating with a hospitalised victim of the Fulani herdsmen’s devastating attack on Nimbo community.
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