The people of Ugbene Alor-Uno in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State have appealed to Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to protect them from the people of Ejuona, their neighbours.

Addressing a news conference in Enugu on Friday, the people claimed that their neighbours had unleashed their youths to cause mayhem in their area after branding them as ‘settlers.’

The Chairman of Ohanaeze Ugbene Leaders of Thought, Mr Nelson Ogbonna, told the newsmen that the governor had recently waded into the conflict and called for a truce between the two groups.

Ogbonna said that on the day of the peace meeting with the governor earlier in the week, some people from Ejuona led policemen to arrest eight people from Ugbene without any new provocation.

“As I speak, six of those people are still in detention five days after their arrest. Two of them were release because of their age and health conditions.”

He accused the people of Ejuona of striving to decimate his people through spontaneous attacks, saying that many people had been violently attacked for passing through a major road designated by them for only ‘the indigenes.’

He said that many prominent people from Ejuona were responsible for the attacks by sponsoring their youths, adding that his people had availed the police of all the information at their disposal.

“We are calling on the governor to intervene again. We did not know that when we were meeting with him, policemen were arresting our people from their homes.

“We are peace-loving people and we will not like this violence to escalate. The people of Ejuona want to decimate our people because they don’t want to see any meaningful person rise from our place.” (NAN)

•Photo shows Governor Ugwuanyi.

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