Gunmen Raze Down 17 Houses In Enugu Community

At least 17 houses were reportedly burnt by gunmen suspected to be arsonists at Ikolo in Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area of Enugu State.

It was learnt that the incident occurred in the early hours of Monday as the affected houses were burnt completely.

Meanwhile, it is not clear if some lives were lost as some supposed casualties were still missing.

Collins Ibeh, a native of the community, told newsmen, “We slept safely yesterday. Around 1:30am. this morning, we began to hear gunshots and unusual sounds from our neighbourhood.

“The youths were alerted. We gathered, and when we realised that the shots were approaching our area, we took refuge in the bush. We could hear what they were saying. The dialect is that of our neighbouring community.

“They were over fifty. We saw them setting fire to our houses. We could not recognise their faces because it was dark. In my own house, everything is gone. Our three motorcycles are burnt. We stored eleven drums of palm oil. They are gone. The worst part is that my grandmother is missing.”

Mrs Anastasia Ibeh, another victim, said, “Around 2am, the noise became too much. The gunshots were raining. I told my daughter that we must run away because they might kill us. We escaped narrowly.

“This morning, we returned and saw that our house had been consumed. Our stored ten drums of oil, my children’s certificates, all gone!”

It was recalled that in 2017, police operatives prevented what the then Police Public Relations Officer of the state police command, Mr Ebere Amarizu, described as ‘would-have-been a full scale war’ between Ikolo and Aku communities in Igbo-Etiti.