Suspectes herders, Monday, evening killed about 18 natives of Egedegede, Obegu and Amuzu communities in Ishielu North development centre, Ishielu local government area of Ebonyi state .
The suspected herdsmen were said to have invaded the communities from Enugu axis.
Though the actual number of casualties were yet to be known, a resident of the community who spoke on anonimity said 18 persons were killed by the herdsmen, while another resident said 10 were killed.
“We are mourning, we are in serious mourning since late hours of Monday. Herdsmen invaded our communities and massacred our people. As we speak, 18 persons were slaughtered like animals. They matcheted many of our people, burnt vehicles, motorcycles and looted our properties,” the resident said.
He further said a Priest with the Methodist Church was among those killed and his car was burnt to ashes.
Chairman of Ishielu local government area, Hon. Sunday Eze, and Commissioner for Business Development in the state, Dr. Stephen Odo who hail from the local government led a team of security agents to the communities and condoled the families of those killed in the invasion.
They assured that government would take proactive measures to investigate the invasion.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Loveth Odah, confirmed the incident.
“The Commissioner of Police delegated a team of Policemen for on the spot assessment because of peace talks going on in the town. So, the Commissioner of Police delegated them; Deputy Commissioner of Police Operations and others went for on the spot assessment to enable us get the detail of the report. So, they are yet to come back.
“We are still waiting for our men to come back to tell us their findings. I am already preparing a press release on the incident but their report too will assist us in giving you detail information about it,” she said.