By Balarabe Oshiafi
Gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen on Thursday again invaded the rocky community of Iyuku in Etsako-West Local Government Area (LGA) of Edo State, killing three security men, including a native identified as Ebenezer Iyalomhe.
ExpressDay investigations reveal that the gunmen came from bushes contiguous to the Nigerian Army School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering (School of EME, Nichoho) and the corridors of Imeke reserve farmlands to destabilise the tranquility of the solid mineral-rich community.
Their target, it was further learnt, is the quarrying companies in the place. It was in one of the companies in Iyowu Quarter that the gunmen killed the three victims who were on guard duty.
Commenting on the incident, Momodu Braimah, a security expert and native of Iyuku said, “it is very worrisome. We are taking all the necessary steps to deal with the challenge. We have put the State Government on notice and also trying to overhaul our local vigilante”.
Another native of Iyuku who is also a Chairman of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Anthony Osemobor, harped on the need to “re-engineer” the hunters and vigilante groups as a way of dealing with “frequent attacks on Iyuku”.
“I will like to call on our brothers and sisters and Edo State Government to provide logistics for our hunters and vigilante groups. All those attackers are carrying sophisticated weapons. How can we confront them with empty hands?”, he stated.
Findings reveal that Iyuku is now being frequently invaded by gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen to the extent that farmers are now wary of going to farms lest they are kidnapped or killed.
ExpressDay attempted to get the reaction of the Deputy Governor of Edo State, Comrade Phillip Shaibu, to the development, but he did not respond to phone calls.
