There is only one thing that could be labelled as the truth in the killings of Enugu residents and that is that some people died. Beyond that all what we have are speculations.
Points:
How many people were killed? Any number is a guess work. I am yet to hear of the efforts made by the police or any Enugu government officials or anybody else to ascertain the number of the dead and wounded.
Who did the killing? Fulani herdsmen? Boko Haram terrorists? Soldiers/Police? We do not know. The Catholic Bishop of Nsukka Diocese, Prof. Godfrey Onah has been quoted as saying that security operatives withdrew just before attacks and reported back only when the attacks had been completed and that the attack was public knowledge before it happened. If it had been really the work of herdsmen how could they have galloped away with their cattle without trace? We know that cattle and herders travel on foot at snail speed leaving swaths of trail behind including feaces and footprints. How come that there are not straggler cows? How come that not one herdsman or cow was killed? This raises the question: was there any fighting at all? Even if there were mere 10 cattle in the herd. This makes Mr. Ozodiobi Osuji’s theory that the attack was not the work of cattle herders but of military people credible.
Mr. SteveK had barely accepted that people were killed but his question on motive is still well placed. If the killings were the work of herdsmen, the motive would be a fight for grazing rights. But as I mentioned on point 2 above that it does not seem like it was herdsmen, then who is/are it/they and what is the motive? We are speculating.
We have been told that the police would get to the bottom of this. This is another speculation. If they will, how come that we have not seen evidence of their interviewing residents and checking on the cattle along every Nsukka town and village? Why are they not looking at the wounds of the dead and injured for clues of the type of weapons used and bullets fired? Why are there no investigations going on? Except in the mind of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi in his Yoruba agbada outfit.
The only other truth is that there is more to this story than we know and perhaps we will ever know. I am more terrified by our lack of knowledge than by the incidents that we know of. We have unknown unknowns
Has Boko Haram metamorphosed into herdsmen and are invading southern Nigeria?
Written by Benjamin Obiajulu Aduba.
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