Communal crisis in Oruku community , Nkanu- East local government area of Enugu State has claimed one life in the early hours of Monday.
A residential building belonging to an indigene of Oruku, Okechukwu Ukeh, was also set ablaze by gunmen said to have been sponsored by one of the opposing camps.
An eyewitness said the incident occurred about 6 am on Monday when the sound of sporadic gunshots woke the residents from their sleep.
The deceased (Ike) was said to be riding on his motorbike from his residence for the day’s business when he was gunned down by the assailants, who also burnt his motorcycle and his corpse.
“We were woken up again this morning by the heavy sound of gunfire which forced many residents to remain indoors for several hours before security operatives arrived in the community. We came out only to see the corpse of the young man and his burnt motorcycle. The gunmen fled before the policemen arrived,” the eyewitness said.
Oruku and Umuode communities had been in crisis for several years but while the Enugu State Government has succeeded in settling the dispute by demarcating their boundary, which was in contention, as recommended by a Judicial Panel of Enquiry, some aggrieved members of Oruku, who were opposed to the terms of settlement with Umuode, have continued to foment trouble in their own community.
Several lives and property had been lost to the conflict as some young men believed to have been armed by some personalities in Oruku have continued to attack their kinsmen who were allegedly marked for elimination for agreeing to settle the dispute with their Umuode neighbours.
The State Police Public Relations Officer, Daniel Ndukwe, could not be reached for his comments on the incident by press time but some policemen deployed to the area were seen in a video while trying to move the corpse of the deceased to the mortuary.
