Rev Fr Emmanuel Dim
THE governors of the five South East states of Abia, Anambra,
Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo have now become the butt of criticisms from the church
and some rights groups over the poor handling of the crises arising from the
incessant attacks by Fulani herdsmen on the people of the area. Herdsmen armed
with sophisticated weapons had consistently attacked unarmed farmers in both
their farms and houses without the governors condemning the attacks or even
meeting to speak with one voice over the issue. However, Enugu State which was
most affected has lost about 43 innocent souls following the attack on Nimbo in
Uzo Uwani Local Government Area, Atakwu in Akegbe Ugwu and Umuleshi in Awgu
Local Government Area. However, the latest second major attack at Nkpologu/
Nimbo axis of Enugu which led to the kidnap of a Catholic Church priest,
Emmanuel Dim and the shooting of two
other priests Rev. Frs. Jude Chukwuneke and Jude Ezeokana who were in
the same vehicle with him, opened the floodgate of condemnations of the
governors whom the people said had abandoned their basic roles of providing
security for lives and property as the chief security officers of their states.
Addressing reporters at the Assumption Cathedral, Nnewi, Director
of Communication in the diocese, Rev. Fr. Hyginus Aghaulor, alleged that
suspected Fulani herdsmen, armed with AK47 rifles attacked and kidnapped the
Rector of Tansi Major Seminary, Rev. Fr. Dim adding that the kidnappers had
called and demanded N2.5 million ransom for his release. Aghaulor however, said
the “Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, has directed that ransom
should not be paid for any of the church’s kidnapped priest pointing out that
anybody waiting for payment of ransom for the release of any priest kidnapped
was wasting his time.” According to him, “anybody or group of persons waiting
for the payment of ransom for the release of any priest were on their own.” In
a statement entitled: “Fulani Herdsmen kidnaps Rector of Tansi Major Seminary,
Onitsha, demands for ransom” the church further said the incident happened on
September 25, 2016, around 7pm along Nkpologwu/Nimbo Road in Enugu State. The
statement read, “The three Catholic priests were returning from Nsukka to
Onitsha and Nnewi respectively, after a condolence visit to Rev. Fr. Uchenna
Ezeh of Nsukka Diocese who lost his mother, when they were attacked and Rev.
Fr. Dim was kidnapped while the other two priests escaped with bullet wounds.
“While Rev. Fr. Dim is still being held by the herdsmen kidnappers who are
demanding a ransom of N2.5 million, Rev. Fr. Ezeokana, who lectures in both Fr.
Tansi Major Seminary Onitsha and Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, received
treatment briefly at a hospital in Nsukka, but is now nursing his wounds at
Awka his home Diocese. “Rev. Fr. Chukwuemeka, who is the Chaplin of St Camillus
de Lellis Chaplaincy, Collage of Health Science, Nnamdi Azikiwe University,
Nnewi, who was shot on the head has been transferred from Memphis Specialist
Hospital Enugu to Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, where he
is presently receiving treatment “Another Catholic priest Rev. Fr. Emmanuel
Ugwu was kidnapped on August 9, 2014 along Ugwuogo-Nike-Opi and a few weeks ago
a senior seminarian was killed in cold blood in Attakwu, Enugu State, and one
begins to wonder if Catholic priest have become endangered species.” A visibly
angry Aghaulor lashed out at the South East Governors for doing nothing to
protect people they are governing, “while their counterparts in the North are
influencing the Federal Government in spending billions of naira to contain the
Boko Haram insurgents, when something more worrisome and sinister than the
activities of Boko Haram is being done in South East by the Fulani Herdsmen.
“The South East Governors and their Chairman have done nothing to protect the
people of South East, the Enugu State Governor whose state is where the
menacing activities of the herdsmen is worst and the state legislators have not
done anything to protect the people there, they should borrow a leaf from
Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State. “We are in a federalism, and each state
have the right to make certain law governing them, what prevents Enugu State
government from making laws that can protect the people there? Governors of
South East and their state Assemblies should make laws that will protect their
people.” Rev. Fr. Aghaulor lamented that since Nigeria, came into being, nobody
has seen the levels of killing that are being
perpetrated by the Fulani herdsmen, adding that “while innocent people
are left unprotected, we have seen a barrage of military wares and personnel
protecting the pipelines in Niger Delta, as if oil is more important than
people’s lives. Why should people be killed without provocation in their own
traditional lands? “We are asking the government for how long would this
continue, is this the type of country we all signed up for, is this part of the
change, are there no rules and laws in this country, all over Nigeria women are
being raped, people are intimidated, innocent Nigerians are being slaughtered
and property worth billions of Naira destroyed by the suspected Fulani
Herdsmen.” The Owerri Diocese of the Catholic Church also condemned the poor
attitude of the south east governors towards the people they govern, wondering
what had gone wrong. Rights group, Civil
Rights Realisation and Advancement Network, CRRAN, also slammed the governors
of the five South Eastern states for not doing enough to curtail the dastardLY
activities of the Fulani herdsmen who commit all sorts of atrocities in the
land. President of CRRAN, Olu Omotayo, accused the governors of treating “the
gory and sorry security situation in the geo-political zone with kid gloves.”
Reacting to the attack on the three reverend fathers and subsequent kidnap of
one of them, CRRAN, said that the Igbo was sitting on a keg of gun powder
without realising it and pointed out that until the herdsmen arrested over the
past attacks in Enugu State were charged to court, the ugly incident might
continue unabated. “The worsening security situation in Enugu State and
Southeast states become worrisome due to the inactivity of the governors of the
various southeast states who are handling this security challenge with kid
gloves. “We support the position of the Catholic Diocese of Nnewi who through
Rev Fr. Aghaulor maintained that the southeast governors are doing nothing to
protect the people they are governing. “The position of the Catholic Diocese of
Nnewi supported our position that Enugu and sister states in the zone are
treating this urgent security matter as a political matter. “We had before now
maintained that until the herdsmen arrested in connection with previous attacks
in Enugu state are charged to court, these attacks will continue,” Omotayo
said.
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