By McJoe Ndukwe

A farmer and his two sons have been killed by suspected herders at Amaeze, Ishiagu Community in the Ivo Local Government Area of Ebonyi state.

The ugly incident occurred on Friday when the farmer and his two sons farmed on their farmland.

In a statement on Sunday, the local government chairman Emmanuel Ajah said that he received the news with a rude shock.

“It is with sadness that I, Hon. Chief Ajah Emmanuel Ogbonna, the executive chairman of Ivo Local Government Area received the news of the brutal killing of three of my people who went to their farmland for farming activities. Regrettably, this evil act happened to a father and his two sons,” he said.

Ajah described the killing of the three persons as an evil act, assuring that the government is not relenting in its efforts to safeguard the lives and properties of the people.

According to him, stakeholders including the military, divisional police officers, Department of State Services, town union executives, and various community leaders have held an emergency security meeting.

He said during the meeting, they chatted about a better way to arrest the situation to avoid a breakdown of law and order and to forestall a reoccurrence of such an evil act.

“Conclusively, I strongly vow that the perpetrators of this ugly act shall be brought to book no matter what it might cost the government. We can’t stand to watch herders maim and kill our people like chickens and allow them to be,” the LG boss said.

Meanwhile, the Ebonyi State Police Command spokesperson Joshua Ukandu confirmed the incident to Channels Television.

Ukandu said that operatives of the command are conducting painstaking operations in the area to fish out the perpetrators of the dastardly act.

“The incident is confirmed, our officers are conducting operations in the area to fish the perpetrators of this dastardly act,” the spokesperson said.

Below is the full press statement from the LGA chair

It is with sadness that I, Hon. Chief Ajah Emmanuel Ogbonna, the executive chairman of Ivo Local Government Area received the news of the brutal killing of three of my people who went to their farmland for farming activities. Regrettably, this evil act happened to a father and his two sons.

As it has been in the culture of the Executive Governor of Ebonyi State, Rt. Hon. Chief Francis Ogbonnia Nwifuru and I, to protect the lives and properties of our people, we want to assure you that we will never relent in doing our duties, majorly to safeguard life. It came as a shock to entertain this sudden attack at a time we least expected it, but as we know, we are mortals, limited in knowledge by many factors, and excuses are far from our dictionary.

Since yesterday, when the news of the brutal killing broke out, I have never been myself, nor have I slept over the situation. Currently, better solutions are naturally winding up, and I believe they will come to fruition soon.

Today, 02/11/2024, I had an emergency meeting with the security agencies in the Ivo Local Government Area, including the Divisional Police Office in charge of the Ivo Division, the director of DSS, the army commander, and other sister agencies. Also in the meeting were the various community chairmen and their youth leaders, and the ICDU Executives who came to chat a better way of arresting the situation. In the meeting, we deliberated various means of solving this attack responsibly, and in no distance time, you will see the results.

I wish to appreciate my people for restoring calmness in our area and for believing in my legacies since I became the local government chairman. I remember last year, a similar issue came up, and with our collective reasoning, we were able to arrest the challenge, and I believe this will not be an exemption.

Why I would never sleep over this incident is that we don’t know who might be the next victim; needless sleeping over this. I also call on the youths to devote themselves to assist in this challenge for security is our general business.

I commiserate highly with the Amaeze community, for it is not easy to bear this irreplaceable loss of three lives in just a day and in the hands of marauding herdsmen without a cause. It pains me whenever I see the lives of my constituents cut short, and I would rather resign than not square up to the challenge.

Conclusively, I strongly vow that the perpetrators of this ugly act shall be brought to book no matter what it might cost the government. We can’t stand to watch herders maim and kill our people like chickens and allow them to be.

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