By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

The Anambra State Government has described lurid pictures posted on the internet as pictures from Awkuzu killings on Monday, April 26, 2021 as misleading.

Recall that there was a report of the alleged invasion of Uzo Nkwo, Awkuzu in Oyi Local Government Area of the state, by suspected Fulani herdsmen which led to the killing of nine persons.

Though police statement gave the number of casualties as 9, there are indications that 19 people lost their lives in the attack.

But, a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, C Don Adinuba, on Tuesday claimed that the incident was rather a clash between some people in Uzo Nkwo, Awkuzu, in Oyi Local Government Area, and some non-indigenes.

He said that some people were killed while some others were maimed adding that both sides recorded casualties.

The statement partly reads: “Following the clash in the early morning of Monday, April 26, between some people in Uzo Nkwo, Awkuzu, in Oyi Local Government Area, and some non-indigenes, some people were killed and some others maimed. Both sides recorded casualties. Security agents quickly moved to the scene and took control of the situation.

However, rather than give a reliable picture of what transpired, some external forces have been posting on social media lurid pictures of what took place outside Anambra State long ago and claim that they are pictures of the incident at Awkuzu.

“The misleading pictures and accounts are so contradictory that while some claim that the dead were indigenes, others claim they were non-indigenes. Each side has been desperate to incite the public against the other.

“The state government is concerned that some mischievous people would go to the extent of producing pictures of heinous killings elsewhere and claim that the murders took place in our dear state. If any of the pictures being circulated on a section of the social media were true, those behind them would have produced and circulated videos of the dastardly killings.

“They would not have stopped at circulating mere still pictures in this era of instantaneous communication and citizen journalism.”

Adinuba accused those behind the false pictures and misleading narratives of the unfortunate incident at Awkuzu of having ulterior motive saying that their intent was to stoke a fire in a state which for the past seven years has been acknowledged by all to be the safest and most peaceful in the whole country.

He added: “It is a shame that nothing is beyond some vicious elements in this election year in Anambra State.

“Indeed, far from succeeding, the culprits, who are reportedly from outside the state, will be identified, arrested, tried, sentenced and made to feel the full weight of the law. Anybody who sheds the blood of innocent souls in Anambra State will account for it both in this world and in the world to come.

“All those who have been involved in grave security breaches in the state in the last few weeks are already being arrested, and they include the nine persons who on March 31, 2021, killed three police officers providing security at the Isuofia Civic Centre in Aguata Local Government Area where the erstwhile Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Professor Chukwuma Charles Soludo of the All Grand Progressives Alliance (APGA), was having an interactive session with the youth in his Isuofia community.

“Anambra State will, in spite of all odds, remain the Light of the Nation.”

Adinuba said that the State Government has already taken some measures to fish out those who perpetrated the dastardly killings of fellow citizens in Awkuzu as well as those who have produced pictures from all manner of places with the sole aim of portraying Anambra people as barbarians and raising tension in the polity.

According to him, the steps already taken by the state government include, imposition of a curfew in Awkuzu, Igbariam, Aguleri, Umunya, Umueri and Nteje communities from 7 pm to 6 am until further notice.

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