It was learnt that many members of the community who were tagged as ESN fighters or allegedly in support of the activities of the group were killed by the security personnel and their houses were destroyed.
The traditional ruler of Ajame Akpawfu Autonomous Community in the Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State, Igwe Christopher Nnamani has debunked reports that eight people buried on April 28 by a section of the community were killed during a 2023 communal clash.
Nnamani who debunked the report at a media briefing in Enugu on Wednesday also noted that there was nothing like the people of Umuanigbiyovo Oyiwode, Akpawfu community as claimed in the reports. He accused those behind the reports of fanning the embers of discord in the community.
SaharaReporters had reported that some criminal elements masquerading as members of the Eastern Security Network (ESN), the militant wing of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), took over Akpawfu community forest spanning many kilometres.
Following their activities, members of the community fled the area as some residents who did not support the activities of the criminals were reportedly labelled saboteurs and executed.
Some members of the community who embraced the group subsequently branded themselves as Umuanigbiyovo Oyiwode and started terrorising other members of the community, until personnel of the Nigerian Army, police, and Department of State Services (DSS) invaded the community to flush out the criminals from the forest.
It was learnt that many members of the community who were tagged as ESN fighters or allegedly in support of the activities of the group were killed by the security personnel and their houses were destroyed.
Following the development, it was learnt that some residents who were affected by the activities of the soldiers and others mobilised and launched attacks on the members of the community suspected to have given information to the military and other security personnel.
In the reprisal, about nine members of the community including its chief security officer were killed. The remains of some of them have been found to date.
A section of the communities who claimed to be Umuanigbiyovo Oyiwode buried eight people killed during the invasion on April 28 but the communities as a whole on May 5 conducted a mass burial for the nine residents brutally killed by the unknown gunmen.
Addressing journalists on the situation in the community, Igwe Nnamani commended security agencies for restoring peace in the community once again, adding that the Enugu State government had demolished the forest where the hoodlums had been hiding.
He said: "First, there were no communal crises or clashes in Akpawfu communities in Enugu State. What happened were cases of kidnapping, ritual killings, organ harvesting, and other numerous crimes taking place in our forest by known criminals, not unknown criminals.
"I said so because at a stage, they came out without covering their faces, and that made it possible for proper identification."
The monarch explained that "during the peak of attacks and killings in the communities,” they “called for help from both government and security agencies”.
“As God would have it, the military invaded the community, went into the forest, and flushed out the criminals who had taken over the forest and communities.
"After the military operations, some of the hoodlums in the community began targeting and killing our local security agents including my CSO who was kidnapped and disappeared to date.
“So, I am categorically telling you now that there were no communal clashes or crises in my community and the entire Akpawfu communities except the activities of criminal gangs that had since been flushed out."
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