Police deny claims of Herdsmen invasion of Enugu community

Thursday, April 3, 2025 - The Enugu State Police Command has described as baseless and mischievous, a report alleging that herdsmen have overrun and occupied homes and schools in Eha-Amufu in the Isi Uzo local government area of the state.

Spokesman of the Command, SP Daniel Ndukwe, in setting the record straight, said no community in Eha-Amufu or any part of Enugu State has been invaded, placed under siege, or had its residents displaced, as claimed.

Ndukwe stated that, while available records indicated that farmers were temporarily displaced from these farm settlements during the farmer-herder clashes sometime in 2021 and 2022, peace and order have since been restored to the Eha-Amufu communities through joint security operations, contrary to the misleading report.

“The Police Command particularly acknowledges the intentional and intensive interventions of the Government of Enugu State to enhance security, especially in Eha-Amufu, under the leadership of Dr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah.

“These efforts include deploying 150 military personnel and well-equipped Special Forces, establishing security agency barracks, and constructing the nearly completed 21.7km Agape-Agu Mgbuji-Ogbete access roads leading to some farm settlements in the community.

Regrettably, the medium that published the report ignored these facts and timelines, using unrelated pictures to support its sensational claims.

After diligent forensic and digital fact-checking, it was discovered that the images were taken from old reports on incidents in neighboring states and other locations, then mischievously repurposed to mislead the public.

For instance, pictures of burnt houses posted by Amnesty International in condemnation of the February 4, 2025, attack on the Nkalaeha community in a neighboring state were falsely misrepresented in the report as a recent occurrence in Eha-Amufu farm settlements,” the police spokesman said.

He added that the state Commissioner of Police, CP Mamman Bitrus Giwa, has asked the public to disregard the unfounded report. He reaffirmed the unwavering commitment of the Police and other security agencies to maintaining law, order, and security across the State.