The murder of a villager in Egede community in the Udi Local Council of Enugu State by suspected Fulani herdsmen has heightened tension in the area as village leaders move in to forestall reprisal attacks.

Forty-two-year-old Chinwuba Ekwueme, father of three and a member of the Egede Neighbourhood Watch was reportedly murdered by AK-47-wielding herdsmen who were grazing their cattle in the community.

Chairman of the Egede Neighbourhood Watch, Mr. Donatus Otie, narrated how the herdsmen butchered the deceased after other vigilante colleagues took to their heels as the cattlemen came shooting at them.

Traditional ruler of Egede, Igwe Polycarp Oyigbo, lamented the recurrence of nomadic attacks against his subjects and wondered why government had not been able to offer measures towards saving them from the strangers` brutality.

The monarch noted that the community leadership had been prevailing on the youths to avoid reprisal attack, and expressed hope that the police would keep to their promise of bringing the culprits to book.

“I do not know whether it would have been better to allow them to take the law into their hands; so government should take appropriate actions to end the menace,” he said.

President General of the Egede Town Union, Clement Amuji, lamented the pain and sorrow the Fulani men have inflicted on his people.

Said he: “The attack by these herdsmen has become a menace to our people. We have been complaining to the government; we have written several letters to Udi Local Government Council, and the District Police Officer (DPO), 9th-Mile.

“This has been happening; they have been destroying our crops, raping our women. They killed a young man from Umuanum about three years ago. It is very sad because it has repeated itself.”

He urged government to come to the aid of the community and to provide arms with which the vigilante group could contain the herdsmen.