Killing Of 5 Fulani’s: Abuja DSS Lied, Says Abia State Government

Anger on Sunday trailed a report by the Depart­ment of State Securi­ty (DSS) that members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) were responsible for the abduction and killing of five Fulani herdsmen in Isuik­wuato area of Abia State.
In reactions, Gov­ernor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State said the report was inaccurate.
The DSS had accused IPOB and MASSOB members of kill­ing the Fulani herdsmen and burying them in shallow graves in Isuikwuato.
Governor Ikpeazu warned that the herdsmen pose a seri­ous security threat toNigeria and called for quick measures to curb their excesses “before it becomes toolate.”
In a statement he issued on Sunday, Governor Ikpeazu ex­pressed sadness over the claims by the DSS in Abuja, when there was no report to that effect em­anating from the security agen­cies including police and the DSS in the state.

Through his Chief Press Sec­retary, Mr. Godwin Adindu, the governor said there was no re­port “either from the police or the Army or even the DSS itself in Abia State” to authenticate the claims form the agency’s head­quarters in Abuja.
He wondered why “the DSS in Abuja and some sections of the media could not confirm from their men on ground before going to the public.”
Ikpeazu said: “I just spoke to the state Director of DSS and he denied knowledge of any such development.”
He expressed worry that the DSS’ action could spark off eth­nic tensions across the country if not properly managed by all stakeholders.
Ikpeazu insisted that a crime of such magnitude could not have taken place in Abia with­out any security report from the State Security Council.
Earlier, at a three-day work­shop at the National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike, the governor decried the atrocities of herdsmen in the state and other parts of the South East zone.
“The menace and nuisance of cattle rearers has become a major security challenge in Ni­geria”, he warned.
Represented at the event by the Commissioner for Ag­riculture, Mr. Uzor Azubuike, the governor said that time had come when states should secure grazing fields in their localities and hand them over to the Fed­eral Government to avert clash­es between farmers and cattle rearers.
The governor described as ridiculous the Federal Govern­ment’s plans to import grass from Brazil for cattle when Ni­geria can supply the grass needs of the world.
He revealed that the state had already set up a commit­tee to help settle the herdsmen/ farmers’ crisis to avoid a repeatof the “Agatu experience”.
“We won’t allow what is hap­pening in Agatu and other parts of the North to happen here,” Ik­peazu warned.