Chioma said the farm, which covered several hectares and was planted with cassava and other food crops, was devastated when cattle strayed into the fields, wiping out months of labour and investment.
A young woman from Nimbo community in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, Ugwu Christiana Chioma, has appealed to the Enugu State Government, security agencies and well-meaning Nigerians for urgent assistance after her family’s farm was allegedly destroyed by cattle herders grazing freely in the area.
Chioma said the farm, which covered several hectares and was planted with cassava and other food crops, was devastated when cattle strayed into the fields, wiping out months of labour and investment.
Standing inside the destroyed farmland in a video shared online, the School of Health graduate described the incident as a crushing blow to her family’s fragile means of survival.
“I am a graduate of a School of Health, but there are no jobs,” she said. “I came back home to join my mother, who is a widow, on this farm so that we can raise money for my upkeep and also save towards starting a small business. All our hope was on this farm.”
She explained that the family spent substantial sums clearing the land and paying labourers to cultivate cassava and other crops.
“We spent a lot of money hiring labourers to clear the land and plant cassava and other crops. Now everything has been destroyed. Seeing this has broken me. It has made all our sacrifices meaningless,” Chioma lamented.
According to her, the farmland has now been turned into a grazing field.
“What you are seeing here was our cassava farm. Now it is just a grazing ground for cattle. Nothing is left,” she said.
Beyond the economic loss, Chioma expressed deep fear for her family’s safety, noting that repeated incursions by herders have heightened insecurity in the community.
“My mother has been traumatised by this incident. Apart from losing the farm, we now live in fear. Many farmers in this community no longer go to their farms because of the fear of kidnapping and attack that people say are linked to these herders,” she said.
She appealed to authorities and humanitarian groups for intervention.
“I am begging the Enugu State Government, security agencies and good-spirited Nigerians to come to our aid. We are helpless. We need protection, and we need support to survive,” she said.
Nimbo community has a long history of violent attacks linked to suspected herdsmen.
In 2024, SaharaReporters reported that at least four persons had been killed in April when suspected herdsmen invaded Nimbo community in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area.
Many others were reportedly wounded, while scores of residents were declared missing.
Victims of the 2024 attack were identified as Okeh Simon Ugwu, Oruku Okeh Chukwuebuka, Julius Ogbonna Odiegwu and Gabriel Ugwor Ezea.
Residents who spoke to SaharaReporters at the time said the attackers, armed with AK-47 rifles, entered the community undetected and began shooting indiscriminately.
According to fleeing residents, the herdsmen invaded late Sunday night and attacked mourners at Ugwuijoro Nimbo village, killing four people on the spot.
One resident, Okeh Sampson, said the bodies of the slain victims were later recovered, while the community formed search parties to look for missing persons.
He added that about seven seriously injured residents were taken to hospitals in Nsukka.
The Enugu State Police Command confirmed the 2024 attack but did not immediately provide details.
The latest concerns also revive memories of the April 25, 2016 massacre in Nimbo, when at least 48 people were killed by suspected Fulani herdsmen in one of the deadliest attacks recorded in Enugu State.
Then Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi had described the incident as shocking and said security agencies had serious questions to answer.
“My dear people of Enugu State, four days ago on Monday, April 25, 2016, many of our brothers and sisters in Nimbo in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of the state were murdered in cold blood by suspected Fulani herdsmen who have been grazing their cattle in that area for a while now,” Ugwuanyi had said.
He also disclosed that he had received security intelligence about a possible attack a day earlier.
“On Sunday, April 24, 2016, by 7 pm, the night before this carnage took place, I got security information from the Uzo-Uwani Local Government Transition Chairman, Hon. Cornell Onwubuya, that such an incident was likely to take place in the state. I immediately summoned a meeting of the State Security Council which commenced by 10 pm,” the former governor said.
For residents like Chioma, the recurring violence and destruction have deepened feelings of abandonment and despair.
“Farming is all we have here,” she said. “If our farms are destroyed and we are not safe, then we don’t know how we are supposed to survive.”