Etsako East has become a killing field, LG Chairman laments

The Executive Chairman of Etsako East local Government Area of Edo State, Princess Benedicta Attoh has lamented the spate of killings by marauding Fulani herdsmen and militias that has continued unabated across  Council, saying Etsako East has become a killing field.

The LG bosd, in a statement by her Chief Press Secretary, Benjamin Atu, disclosed that at least three persons were slaughtered in Okpekpe community while seven others were matcheted in Itsukwi community.

According to her, the victims were killed on their farmland while others managed to escape with their lives putting the entire communities under panic.

Attoh said: “My people are being massacred like goats. Everyday, you hear that five or four people were killed; we cannot have the exact number of those that have been killed because some corpses are still in the bush and yet to be discovered. No axis is safe in our land both roads and farms. This was exactly what happened in Agenebode where the Youth retaliated that led to the burning down of the Police Station, killings and destruction of properties few weeks ago. 

“The youths should now be allowed to defend their land. We are calming them down to forestall another fierce battle but higher authorities must be seen to be leading from the front.”

Attoh frowned against the Federal Government’s ambivalent stance amid the herdsmen’s attacks which she said is costing too many lives. She said: “It is time to tackle this high level insecurity by deploying military in parts of the bush and farm areas to give the farmers an immediate sense of safety in their farm lands.”

The LG boss urged the Federal Government must fulfil its primary purpose of securing the lives and property of every citizen.

“Etsako East is on fire. Killings and kidnappings are taking place daily and our youths are willing to defend themselves, their families and their land. Their patience has ran out so the government should be ready to accept the outcome of their action should they fail to provide protection. Nobody will fold his or her hands watching their family members killed in a gruesome manner daily like goats on their farmlands, she warned. She wondered if going to the farm has become a death sentence in Nigeria, as the killing has become a way of life without appropriate action taken against the herdsmen”, she said.

She called on the National Assembly to legalise self-defense for every community.

“It should be so enshrined in the Nigerian constitution. Shall we continue to wait for government when we die daily?”, she asked.