Anambra: Community laments incessant killings, alleges govt, police neglect

Anambra map

Residents of Lilu in the Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State have decried the incessant gunmen attacks, lamenting that the community has been turned into a place of bloodbath and persistent “mindless killings of its kith and kin without any interventions from the state government and the police.

Speaking on behalf of the community on Tuesday, the Chairman, Chief Barnabas Oko and Secretary, Lilu Concerned Citizens, Silas Nwabueze, in a statement lamented that over three weeks after they held a peaceful demonstration and appeal to the Anambra State government house, no intervention has been made by both the state government and security operatives.

They said the state government and the police have abandoned them in the hands of the armed insurgents, as the community has been held hostage for over five years with their livelihoods in ruins.

According to the statement, after a recent attack on Lilu community on Sunday, December 7, where some yet-to-identified assailants stormed the St. Andrews Anglican Church, killing the wife of the priest and one other person while injuring several others, no arrest has been made till date and the hoodlums have continued to terrorise the residents on a daily basis.

South-East Punch gathered that the gunmen activities began in the communities about five years ago following “secessionist agitations” and over the years, over 100 indigenes have allegedly been murdered while several others taken away and have not been found till date.

The statement read, “A call for help in Lilu community. We, indigenes of Lilu, a once peaceful community have been passing through untold hardship in the hands of ‘unknown gunmen’ for over five years now. Our community has been turned into a place of bloodbath and persistent ‘mindless killings of our kith and kin’.

“Our elderly have been turned into refugees in their homeland and the youths have fled. While other communities celebrated the Yuletide, the people of Lilu could not return home to celebrate. Punch