• Say about 7000 families displaced
Civil Society Organisations have demanded intervention of the Federal and Enugu State governments to end worsening crisis in Abor Isiala and Iheenyi Communities in Isi-uzo Local Council of Enugu State, saying no fewer than 7000 residents of the areas had been displaced since 2022, in which the violence escalated.

The Guardian gathered that the displacement of the communities was as a result of incessant attacks by armed herdsmen in an attempt to graze in the area.

Recently, women of the communities resorted in protest after the killing of a final year student and sexual abuse of a woman returning from the farm.

The South Saharan Social Development (SSDO) and Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC), which addressed a joint press conference in Enugu on the crisis in the area at the weekend, condemned the rising attacks that had claimed lives, businesses and property.

They stated that over 1,064 children have remained out of school, while only 456 children have been returned out of school since then.

Director, JDPC, Enugu, Rev. Fr. Donatus Onuigbo, said the situation in the two communities and other surrounding communities “is not just a tragedy; but an ongoing humanitarian crisis that has left countless families broken and displaced”, adding that many have left their farms and businesses.

He said: “These communities have endured brutal attacks that have spiraled into violent confrontations. Armed herdsmen and their collaborators have wreaked havoc and driven communities from their homes and upended the lives of those who once thrived there.

“What makes the crisis even more disturbing is the disproportionate impact it has had on women and children.

“They bear the brunt of this violence in the most harrowing way including facing hunger, disease and physical assault. Some women have suffered brutal sexual violence, and children, who should be in school, are now left traumatised, displaced, and deprived of an education.

“The attack on farmlands has also left communities without a means of survival and the economic fallout from the destruction of crops and businesses continues to deepen the crisis, and there is no sign that this suffering will end unless immediate and decisive action is taken.”

Lamenting further, Onuigbo stated that despite the deployment of security forces intermittently in the area, the attack has become a yearly occurrence.

He also called on the state government to provide immediate humanitarian relief for the affected families, which should include cash for food, clothing, survival kits and medical supplies.

Onuigbo asked the government to identify, arrest and prosecute perpetrators of the attacks and ensure that children return to school while farmers and business owners who had lost everything are rebuilt.