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From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri Enugu
When the Imo State Police Command deployed surveillance drones to track criminal hideouts in the bushes and farmlands of Owerri West Local Government Area, farmers returned to their farms.
For a brief moment, there was relief in Owerri West. Realtors and land buyers, who had abandoned sites, began to move again. The air of fear that had hung over the communities seemed to lift.
But the relief was short-lived. The gunmen, who had gone quiet, have returned, this time more daring, ruthless and seemingly emboldened. Today, the story in Ndegwu, Amakohia-Ubi, Irete, Orogwe, Ogbaku, Nekede, and Avu is one of fear, deserted farmlands and abandoned building sites. These seven communities are now the worst hit. And their attackers have a pattern: they target farmers on their way to the farm and land speculators inspecting property.
The horror of the resurgence was laid bare at the Umukenekpu village in Ndegwu community. In what residents described as one of the most heartless abductions in recent time, a family of three, including a four-month-old baby, and four others were whisked away by gunmen.
A victim, who later regained freedom, recounted how the abductors, described as suspected herdsmen, showed no pity even for the infant. Throughout their days in captivity, the baby and the mother were reportedly fed only biscuits and dirty water. They were eventually released after an alleged payment of N30 million ransom. The police are yet to confirm the ransom claim.
The Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) and the hosts communities of the institution have course to also panic. The trauma is still fresh in the minds of students and staff, especially with the killing of a branch manager of Polaris Bank, who had come to visit his children in the institution. In that same operation, some students were abducted and released days later, but the ‘scar’ remains.
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The incident has forced many parents to warn their children against late movements, while students now restrict themselves to the campus for fear of being the next victim.
The most recent attack, at Umuekwune in Irete, has further deepened the anxiety. A man, his wife, and a local vigilance operative had gone to inspect a property which the couple intended to buy. The vigilante was there as an escort. Without warning, gunmen suspected to be herders opened fire and the man and the vigilante were killed on the spot. The woman escaped with gunshot injuries, but was said to have allegedly died in the hospital where she was receiving treatment.
For realtors in Owerri West, the message is chilling: the business of selling land, once booming in the fast-developing axis, has become a walk through the valley of death.
Reacting to the renewed wave of attacks, the Imo State Police Public Relations Officer, Henry Okoye, said security agencies have been deployed to the affected areas to restore confidence and check the activities of the criminals.
That assurance is what residents are holding onto. But on the ground, the mood is that of a people waiting to be safe again. In Ndegwu, farms are overgrown with weeds because owners are afraid to go to their farms. In Irete and Orogwe, land agents now demand police escort before visiting a site. In Nekede and Avu, nightfall comes with locked doors and whispered prayers.
The people of Owerri West are asking for more than deployment of security operatives. They want sustained surveillance, dismantling of the criminal camps in the bushes that dot the LGA, and a security presence that allows a farmer to farm, and a builder to build.
