The news of the gruesome murder of a community leader by Fulani herdsmen in cold blood turned Enugu on Thursday into palpable tension.
It was gathered that the deceased, Pa Tagbuo Oguejiofor, 85, a chief, was murdered at his farm in Oma Eke village in Udi Local Government Area of the state.
According to a family source, before his death, the deceased had driven away some herdsmen from his farm who had used their cows to destroy his farm with “impunity”.
It was gathered that the herds destroyed crops and polluted a water well that belonged to the deceased.
Reports of the incident fueled fears of possible reprisal on the Hausa-Fulani community.
However, in a statement, which confirmed the development, the Enugu State Police Command urged residents to avoid taking the law into their hands.
The police spokesman, Ebere Amaraizu, who issued the statement, added that full investigation had commenced into the incident.
Amaraizu said, “The Enugu State Command of the Nigeria Police Force, through its operatives. has commenced full scale investigations into the circumstances surrounding the alleged killing of a man as well as its motives at his farm land at Oma Eke in Udi Local Government Area of the state on 19/3/15.
“The deceased identified as one Tagbuo Oguejiofor, believed to be about 85 years, had on Thursday, gone to his farm, located at Oma Eke in Udi with his wife, when some men, suspected to be Fulani herdsmen, struck and killed him as he was allegedly inflicted with injuries on his head.
“The deceased body is now deposited in a nearby hospital for autopsy while a manhunt for the fleeing assailants has intensified.”
