From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives has charged security agencies to take urgent steps to contain the security challenges in Itsukwi, Imiakebu, Imiegba and Okpekpe communities in Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State.
Specifically, the House directed the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa and the Director General, Department of State Services, ( DSS), Oluwatosin Ajayi to deploy personnel to the area to tackle the worsening insecurity.
The House also mandated the IGP and other relevant security agencies to investigate the killings in the area and “fish out the perpetrators for prosecution.”
It also charged security agencies to “immediately step up the security surveillance to contain the escalation of insecurity within Itsukwi, Imiakebu, Imiegba and Okpekpe communities and beyond.
“This followed the adoption of a motion by the member representing Orhionmwon/Uhunmwode Federal Constituency, Edo State, Billy Osawaru, on urgent need halt the onslaught of herdsmen against innocent citizens in the communities.
Osawaru informed the House that ” on Monday, October 28, 2024, herdsmen invaded Ugbereke, a popular farmland known for its fertility and destroyed completely the yam plantation of a youth leader in Itsukwi community (Ward 9, Etsako East Local Government Area, Edo State), Mr Samuel Igbeneghu.
“On Tuesday, November 5, 2024, three farmers by the names Umuagene Obey, Emuesugheli Obi and Ogbitabu Imoudumhe (all from Okpekpe community in Ward 10, Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State were ambushed on the way to their farms and brutally murdered by suspected herdsmen.
“Same day, the killers made their way to Ugbereke, and killed one Undyar Aondongu (male) while five women were beaten and left to flee with various degrees of injuries.”
According to him, farmers in the affected communities can no longer visit their farms for fear of being attacked or killed.
Osawaru cautioned that if the Federal Government fails to take urgent steps to address the crisis, “acute hunger owing to food scarcity would be the natural consequence, not just for the people of the area but the entire Etsako East Local Government Area and by extension, Edo State as a whole.”