About six persons were feared dead on Monday, at Adani in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, following a clash between armed herdsmen and the Eastern Security Network (ESN).
Trouble reportedly ensued when some herdsmen allegedly shot a member of the Igga community on his farm and blocked the villagers from taking him to the hospital.
According to reports, the herdsmen refused to allow the victim to get medical attention which triggered an uproar that attracted members of ESN to the scene, which led to a confrontation.
A source said it was amid the attempt to resuscitate the victim that some angry youths on motorcycles stormed the scene, and started shooting at the herders barricading the farmer from receiving medical attention.
According to reports, the confrontation led to many residents of Adani, fleeing the area to the neighbouring communities in Nsukka and Igboetiti local councils.
Meanwhile, some residents of Adani, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, claimed that hunters and some local vigilante had encountered some unfamiliar faces suspected to be ESN personnel in the forests in the area, who told them that they were not after law-abiding residents.
The Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Aliyu, and top security operatives in the state visited the scene of the incident at Adani on Monday for fact-finding.
The state’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Daniel Ndukwe, who accompanied the CP on the mission, confirmed the incident and promised to make details available to the press in due course.
