Eight killed in ethnic clashes in Ebonyi

Posted by admin Ebonyi, Headlines, State News Tuesday, April 9th, 2019

A renewed communal crisis between people of Ikwo and Abakaliki council Areas of Ebonyi state, south -east Nigeria, has claimed 8 lives including a three-year-old child and wife of a serving police officer.

African Examiner gathered that the victims were burnt to ashes weekend during the renewed feud which has lasted for several years in the locality and began as a result of land dispute.

The victims were said to be returning from matriculation ceremony that took place at the Ebonyi State University EBSU and stumbled into some unknown hoodlums who were shooting sporadically.

It was learnt that when the victims saw the hoodlums, the driver tried to turn back from the scene, but the car fell into a gutter, and the hoodlums started shooting at the car’s fuel tank and it caught fire.

The Ebonyi state Police Public Relations Officer, PRO Loveth Odah, confirmed the incident to newsmen Monday in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi state capital.

She said: “It is a longstanding dispute between Ndiagu Alike Ikwo and Enyibichiri community in Abakaliki that erupted the other day.

“A vehicle was seen burning on the road allegedly set ablaze by warriors from one of the communities.

The victims were coming from Abakaliki where they attended a matriculation of their son. Five of them were from the same family including a little baby and one is a neighbor who joined them.

“They were burnt to ashes. Three other persons were also attacked and two of them were killed. One of them a woman was the wife of a police officer deployed to Borno state,” she statedwp_posts