In a strong worded condemnation of the recent incursion of armed Fulani herdsmen who launched an attack on Mgbuji autonomous community in Eha-Amufu, Isi-Uzo Local Government Area of Enugu State, on Monday, June 9, 2025, killing three farmers and leaving one person missing, an appeal has gone to the Governments of Igbo states to implement a unified security system to forestall and effectively curb any planned invasion of the region by armed Fulani insurgents.
HURIWA which made the charge said the governors would be individually held accountable should these bloodletting attacks by armed herdsmen continues in Igboland. The governors should be warned that they may be sued before the International Criminal Court in The Hagues Netherlands for pocketing security votes but failing to stop the killings of the citizens of the Igbo states by Fulani.
Citing local sources, HURIWA stated that the victims were ambushed on their farms even as a community leader, Ogenyi Samuel, expressed frustration over the continued attacks and criticized the government’s failure to take preventive action, stating that security forces often arrive only to retrieve bodies.
Another community leader confirmed the recovery of three corpses, identified one of the victims as Isaiah from Otu-Mgbuji, and said a search party had been deployed to locate the missing individual. He alleged that previous attacks have gone unaddressed and that security personnel lack logistical support, such as fuel, to conduct patrols.
The Civil society organisation HURIWA affirmed that the attack comes nearly three months after women from seven Eha-Amufu communities protested persistent violence by herdsmen, which has resulted in at least 152 deaths and 49 kidnappings since 2021.
HURIWA recalled that community leaders are urging the government to take decisive action to prevent further violence and ensure the safety of residents. The Rights group condemned the inaction of governor Peter Mbah in the face of continuous violent attacks and killings of Enugu citizens by armed Fulani terrorists who are infiltrating Enugu state from Benue and Kogi states and are not been confronted by any visible armed security of the Nigerian State. We wonder why Governor Peter Mbah is more interested in carrying out irrelevant white elephant projects but leave Enugu communities vulnerable to attacks by armed herdsmen and non-state actors wielding deadliest weapons of mass destruction.
“We in the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA have repeatedly asked that the governors of the South East states should come together and activate effective, efficient and foolproof proactive security measures to contain the persistent successful attacks by terrorists who are obviously armed Fulani herders.
“There is the urgent call for the political, religious, Civil society organizations and stakeholders in the South-East to take immediate steps to stop armed Fulani insurgents and terrorists from turning the South-East farming communities into killing fields.
“The governments of Enugu, Ebonyi, Anambra, Imo and Abia states are hereby urged to work as a unit to defend the native lands of Igbos and to safeguard the Igbo communities from terrorists attacks by Fulani irredentists. In the event that regular Armed security forces are failing to curtail these killings, the states of South-East are obliged legally to explore other options such as hiring private soldiers and then set up Regional security architecture to wade off these attacks.”
Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko,
National Coordinator,
Human Rights Writers Association Of Nigeria (Huriwa). June 11th 2025.
