Many people were feared dead in the Amegu Nkalagha community in Ishielu Local Government Area (LGA) of Ebonyi State following the invasion of suspected herdsmen.

The herdsmen also burnt down many houses.

The Guardian gathered that the attack by the suspected herdsmen on the community was due to the killing of their cows by members of the community.

Though the Ebonyi Police Command spokesman, SP Joshua Ukandu, when contacted, told journalists that he was not aware of the incident at the time of filing this report, the LGA chairman, Ifeoma Peace, confirmed the incident.

Describing it as sad, she said, “We are taking the victims’ bodies to the mortuary right now. I cannot talk much on it now. We will give more details later.”

A source, Prof. Ndubuisi Idenyi, attributed the incident to be a reprisal attack following the killing of some cows belonging to the herdsmen in the area.

Prof. Idenyi noted that the herdsmen attacked the community in the early hours of Sunday, killing many people and burning down houses.

“I don’t have the number of casualties right now. We are still tracking and bringing out the dead bodies, especially those killed on the farms,” he said.

Another source said a pastor of a Pentecostal church in the area was among those killed during the attack.

The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the community members were not responsible for the killing of the cows.

“We did not kill their cows. The cows were killed by members of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) in the forest,” the source said.