Tears flowed freely yesterday at Nimbo in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State as nine caskets bearing the remains of the victims of the April 25 attack by Fulani herdsmen were laid side by side during the funeral service at the St. Mary Catholic Church, Nimbo.

At the end the service, the various families took the remains of their relations to their homes for interment.

Speaking during the funeral service, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi vowed that the kind of killings that took place at Nimbo would not be allowed to happen again in Enugu State.

“This will never happen again on our soil. We won’t take this again”, the governor said.

He announced that the state government would cater for the needs of the affected families, saying that the Monday April 25 attack would ever remain a dark, sad and solemn day in the memory of the people of Enugu State and indeed Nigerians at large.

“It was on that day that our brothers and sisters, whose remains are lying here before us, were ambushed and murdered in cold blood and in their own land.

“Having done all that was needful including attending to the injured and the displaced, we have assembled here, in tears and in grief, to bury the dead and bid their innocent souls a final farewell.

“Though our emotions cannot restore them to life, we find solace in the fact that the whole world had stood by us and offered us sympathy and solidarity, ever since the incident that took their lives, occurred.

“We make bold to declare that their deaths can never be in vain and we pledge to do all that is within our legitimate means, to give them justice. Like the martyrs they have become, the spilling of their innocent blood is already saving souls as it has aroused in our people and indeed the whole nation, a burning impulse to do all that is necessary to prevent the future occurrence of similar incidents anywhere in the country.

“Shortly after the attack, we had called for fasting and prayers and we must declare that the God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, and awesome God of David, has not failed us but has continued to show us His mercies. For, even as we await the outcome of the judicial panel of Inquiry that we have constituted to unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident, we received news that five people, who are suspected to have participated in the attack, had been arrested by the police and paraded before the whole world.

“We use this occasion therefore to once again express our gratitude to the generality of Nigerians who put aside religious, ethnic and political differences, to offer us their hands of support and sympathy after the killings. We thank the Federal Government and the security agencies for the steps they are taking to prevent future occurrences and address the issues that led to the incident.”

Also speaking in a vote of thanks, a Catholic priest in the community, Rev. Fr. Joseph Okeke Obeta, lamented that the villagers have been living in fears since the incident occurred.

Rev. Fr. Okeke who is also the parish priest of St. Mary Catholic Church Nimbo noted that the return of the Fulani herdsmen to the farms has not helped matters.

He noted that after the April attack all Fulani’s in the community fled; “but today they are gradually returning to the bushes and farms where they graze their cattle; this has further raised tension and apprehension in the community.”

In his sermon the Nsukka Catholic Bishop Rt. Rev. Godfrey Onah urged the Federal Government to see the attack as a national tragedy and seek ways to ensure lasting solution to the problem of herdsmen and farmers across the country.

•Text courtesy of Saturday Sun. Photo shows Governor Ugwuanyi shedding tears on during a visit to Nimbo community shortly after the attack by Fulani herdsmen.

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