• Attacks surge in Imo, Enugu communities
• Herdsmen acquire lands in Abia
From Stanley Uzoaru (Owerri), Jude Chinedu (Enugu), and Okay Sampson (Umuahia)
Itinerant cattle herders have scaled-up their activities in the South-East, wreaking havoc in local communities. Farmlands and crops are destroyed, schools invaded as they graze their cattle. In some communities, farm owners have been brutally murdered by the herder for preventing them from pasturing their cattle on the farmlands.
Imo
Herdsmen are making a dangerous incursion into parts of Owerri North and Owerri West Local Government Areas of the state after they were given a hot chase from the Orlu and Okigwe axis. Their push into Owerri has left different tales ranging from raping to kidnapping and destruction of economic crops.
Owerri North is bleeding from wounds inflicted by the herders as most of their women no longer go to their farms except on designated days when they are accompanied by their men. Even then, movements are restricted.
Chief Stanley Ukaga, national president of Uratta Development Union, told our correspondent that students and teachers in some of the schools are tired of going on forced holidays due to incessant invasion of schools by herders and their cows. Classrooms are often littered with cow dung especially when they occupy the schools overnight as most of the schools don’t have perimeter fences.
Ukaga said: “We’ve had a lot of experiences; the biggest problem is our farms followed by Uratta Secondary School, which has been invaded several times. It’s so bad that they break the doors and lodge the cattle in the classrooms at night. Can you imagine cows in classrooms? The latest incident was when the herdsmen chased the teachers and students away from the school. Some ran away while some of the teachers hid in their vehicles. It was a terrible situation.
“In the farms, they dig up our crops for their animals to feed on and the excuse they always give is that ‘these cows are owned by your brothers’. But we have since found out that it’s all lies. I recall how they desecrated our ancestral market, Orie Uratta, littering it with their cattle dung.”
A staff member who witnessed the attack by herders on Uratta Secondary School narrated his experience.
“Honestly, what we passed through that day was horrible. We must be careful while in school and farm as well. May God continue to protect us. My legs were shaking. I took some time off school to heal from the trauma.
“I thank God that I quickly opened the gate for the cows to run out from the gate, if not, the cows would have attacked one of our teachers inside her car. We ran like never before.
“These people have for a long time taken over our school after school hours and during holidays. Our cassava and maize serve as food for their cows, after all our hard labour and expenses on the farms. How could anyone have imagined that herders and their cows could storm a school on a school day and have teachers and students running for their dear lives?
“It beats my imagination that all these are going on and nothing is being done to address the situation. The most annoying part is that these herders carry out their heinous acts with absolute impunity.”
The traditional ruler of Obibi Uratta, Eze Boniface Ariri, who also confirmed the activities of the herdsmen in his community, said instructions have been given to every indigene not to go to their farms alone due to the precarious situation.
He said, “We have asked them to move in pairs. Our uncompleted buildings where some of the herders reside have also been thoroughly searched to make sure that they move away from our area. This situation has injected fear into everybody and has drastically reduced the foods we produce as women are afraid to go to their farms to weed even after planting. I’m afraid if this continues there may be famine in the South-East.”
The monarch threatened a ban on sale and consumption of cow meat in the town because according to him, if there’s a reduction in the patronage of cows, they would be forced to go elsewhere for grazing.
A former President General of Umunahu Community Development Association, Chief Greg Nze urged the government to come to their aid.
“We can’t continue to abandon our work just to accompany our wives to the farms. Our farming activities are being restricted to our premises because we can’t go far again. If you go behind my house here, you will see the farm my wife is cultivating. We have a lot of family land but we can’t go there to farm anymore. The crops we cultivated last year have been eaten up by the cows,” Nze told our correspondent.
Despite the presence of vigilantes, the armed herdsmen still pose a threat to the natives. But Ukaga said the request made by the town union to the State Commissioner of Police, Aboki Danjuma, for the establishment of Uratta Security Service has been approved, and soon, with the collaboration of the police, they hope to stem the menace.
Also, at Okwu Emekuku, there was uproar last week when information filtered in that about eight armed herders were sighted in nearby bushes, with their faces covered. The youths quickly gathered at the town hall, lamenting their inability to confront the armed strangers, as they did not have access to weapons.
Elsewhere in Amakohia-Ubi community in Owerri-West Local Government Area, the invasion is taking a bloody dimension. Residents of the once-peaceful community, known for its high cultural values and predominantly farming population now live in fear.
The herdsmen have been destroying crops on their farmlands, leading to unquantifiable losses. In one incident, a hunter from the community was almost amputated by herdsmen for daring to confront them. The constant attacks have forced many farmers, especially women, to stop going to their farms.
The situation worsened as they metamorphosed into kidnappers, who mostly target land speculators and farmers. The kidnappings became almost daily occurrences, prompting the community leaders to set up an armed vigilante group.
The community is now grappling with the challenge of protecting their farms and lives from the invaders.
President General of the community, Sir Kevin Akanador, who spoke to our correspondent, claimed that eight people had been kidnapped between 2024 and 2025 while another youth was killed in a poultry farm by suspected herders. Also, corpses of a young man and his mother were found decomposed in one of the bushes in the area.
The most recent incident according to the community leader was an attack on their indigenes on May 18, 2025 in broad daylight.
Akanador narrated that the suspects penetrated their community through their boundary at Agwa and started shooting sporadically when they gained entrance into a village called Umuike, leading to their stray bullets hitting one Ndii Osuigwe on the head. He was said to have survived the incident.
Resistance put up by the vigilante group in the area when the herders came earlier with their cows to graze in the farmlands, the PG said, actually irked the herdsmen who retreated, reinforced, and later came back in their numbers to attack the villagers.
“Since no help was coming our way we had to set up the Amakohia-Ubi Security Network to ward off the invaders. Some of our youths also volunteered to be forest guards combing the forests. All these were in a bid to tackle the problems ourselves.
“Although men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) at the initial stage, patrolled with their vehicles but later stopped coming. We have written to the Commissioner of Police but we are yet to hear from him. That notwithstanding, we’re going to continue writing.
“These gallant vigilantes with the assistance of the ones from Ndegwu, our neighbouring community, were able to chase the bandits into the bush.
“They might have left but the people in the community still could not sleep with their two eyes closed for fear of another attack.
“This is why the community wants the government to deploy more security personnel to patrol the areas and prevent further attacks. Farmers need protection from herdsmen who destroy their crops and still attack them,” Akanador said.
The Imo State Police Command has taken steps to address the issue in some of the communities, including the arrest of nine notorious kidnappers and the rescue of their victims.
The police in collaboration with some sister security agencies in the state have been combing some bushes in Owerri-west, Ngor-Okpala and beyond to smoke out these criminals from their hideouts.
Enugu
Communities in Enugu State, particularly in Eha-Amufu and Uzo-Uwani Local Government Areas, are reeling under a wave of violent attacks by suspected armed herdsmen, with dozens killed and several others displaced in recent weeks.
In the most recent assault, at least seven residents were brutally murdered on Sunday, June 15, when gunmen stormed Agu-Amede autonomous community in Eha-Amufu, Isi-Uzo LGA.
Witnesses from Ikpakpara village, one of the worst-hit areas, said the attackers descended on the community in the evening, initially wielding machetes before opening fire on fleeing villagers.
Among those killed were Dennis Ovu and a boy of about 20 years in Ohalu Mgbede. In Iyi Asa village, the victims included Joe Aguigbo, Simon Nshi, and two other young men in their 30s. Residents say two people are still missing despite extensive search efforts. Eyewitnesses claimed the attackers gained access to the community through Iyi Asa community in a manner that is now spreading fear.
The June 15 attack came just days after a similar tragedy in Mgbuji community, also in Eha-Amufu, where three farmers were killed and another reported missing on Monday, June 9 during an ambush on their farmland.
A community leader, Samuel Ogenyi, voiced frustration over what he described as the government’s reactive approach to the crisis.
“We are tired and despondent. Security only arrives after each attack to count the dead. Nothing is being done to prevent these killings or pursue the attackers,” he said.
The violence has also spilled into Uzo-Uwani LGA. On June 2, an elderly couple, Elder Otiakugwu and his wife, were murdered in their home in Ekwuru village, Nimbo, while having dinner.
Their blood-soaked bodies were discovered the following morning, with a machete left at the scene. The gruesome killing has left the community in mourning and shock.
“Who did they offend to deserve this kind of death?” a grieving neighbour asked.
Earlier, on May 18, seven farmers from Aku community in Igbo-Etiti LGA were killed while working on their farms in Daba community, Uzo-Uwani. Six others were abducted in the same incident. In a separate attack, Simon Odenigbo, a native of Nimbo, was killed in Ekulu village, and three more persons were kidnapped in Abbi community.
So far, no fewer than 36 people have been reported killed across Uzo-Uwani alone in recent months. Locals allege the attackers often cross over from neighbouring Benue and Kogi states.
Despite the mounting death toll, residents lament the absence of sustained security operations or preventive action. Amid the worsening crisis, Dr. Eric Odo, Chairman of Igbo-Etiti LGA, has called on the federal government to officially designate armed herders as terrorists. He made the appeal on Monday, June 16, during an institutional strengthening meeting organised by ActionAid Nigeria and South-Saharan Social Development Organisation in Enugu. Odo argued that such a declaration would give security agencies the legal backing to decisively confront the threat.
“Everyone talks about food insecurity, but this stems from the rising insecurity in our communities.
“It’s time for the president to show political will and declare these armed herders a terrorist group, just like other violent groups have been classified. That way, the police, military, and all security agencies can go after them as they should. If properly identified and classified, half of the insecurity problems in the country will be addressed,” he emphasised.
Abia
In Abia State, the activities of herdsmen have to a great extent been checked. Before now, herdsmen wreaked havoc in parts of Abia, especially in the Northern and Southern axis.
Some years back, the herders caused serious problems in communities in Abia North, including Ozuitem, Umuhu Ezechi, Abam and Ohafia.
Although many casualties were not recorded then, unquantifiable damage was done on farmlands as the herders and their cattle destroyed farm crops in the affected communities.
The situation became so precarious that the communities put up measures to checkmate the activities of the marauding herders.
One of such measures adopted particularly by the Ohafia community was the banning of the consumption of cow meat in the area.
This appeared to be a very potent weapon. Since there was no market for cows reared in that part of the state, the herdsmen on their own left the area and relocated to other parts of the South-East.
Investigation reveals that forests and farmlands in that area are relatively free from the dangerous activities of herdsmen.
A native of the area, Ifeanyi Kalu told our correspondent that before now, there was no part of their farmlands the herders did not set their foot on with its corresponding destruction of farm crops.
Kalu said because the herdsmen even reared their cows within the army barracks located in the area without any disturbance, that perhaps emboldened them to snub the community’s entreaties for the herdsmen to spare their farmlands. That, he said, necessitated the decision to ban eating of cow meat in the area.
If the activities of the herdsmen have been greatly checkmated in the Ohafia area of the state, the same could not be said of Obingwa Local Government Area, where a traditional ruler from the place, Eze Okey Ananaba has decried activities of herders in the community.
Ananaba who is the traditional ruler of Okahia community in Obingwa council area raised the alarm over massive land acquisition by suspected herdsmen in the area. He declared that the destruction of farm crops and possession of illegal arms like AK- 47 rifles by the herders have aggravated tension in the rural communities as the herdsmen threaten to kill the vigilantes and farmers who challenge them.
Ananaba revealed that herders have already acquired over 5,000 plots of land in strategic border communities such as Mgboko Umuanunu, near the boundary with Akwa Ibom state and Akpaa Mbato community behind the National Institute for Nigerian Languages, Ovom in Aba.
“There are other massive land acquisitions in other communities in Obingwa LGA and environs. These land acquisitions pose serious security threats and could be used as operational bases for violent attacks on local residents. We don’t know the reason behind the acquisition of these massive land areas in most communities in Obingwa LGA,” he revealed.
The monarch also disclosed that traditional rulers in the area have severally petitioned the Abia State government over ongoing land transactions, but lamented that nothing has been done to check the trend.
He called on Governor Alex Otti to intervene and halt these massive land acquisitions in Obingwa council by suspected herdsmen to prevent a repeat of violent attacks on natives by the herders as being witnessed in Benue and Plateau states. However, some people from the area that spoke on the issue and wouldn’t want their name in print for security reasons, alleged that some traditional rulers in the areas concerned are behind the massive acquisition of lands by suspected herdsmen.
To buttress their points, one of them said, “There is no way a massive land of up to 1,000 plots will be acquired by anybody in the rural communities without the traditional ruler being aware of such a transaction. It is not possible.”
He urged the government to stop the practice of registering massive lands in the communities without investigations.
Albeit no violent attack has been reported in the state in recent times, as what could have led to loss of lives in Igbere, in Bende Local Government Area was averted.