Soldiers allegedly attacked Isingwu, a hamlet in Imama village, Mgbowo, in the Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State, burned houses and allegedly killed an unknown number of youths.
According to several residents, the soldiers were in the community to apprehend an accused head of the Eastern Security Network, ESN, the security arm of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, who was a native of the area.
According to Source, the stated suspect, identified as Chocho, was not there when military forces stormed the neighborhood around 5 a.m., shooting indiscriminately and torching homes, including the said suspect’s family home.
“They torched his house and sprayed bullets in nearby compounds. In short, the soldiers, who were chanting jihadist songs, were burning property in the community as if they were at war,” he added.
Meanwhile, a group of South East youth leaders has criticized soldiers’ “gruesome killing of innocent civilians and burning of their homes and properties in the South East,” calling it “wicked, villainous, and barbaric.”
Mr Goodluck Ibem and Okey Nworu, the group’s President General and Publicity Secretary, said in a statement that the military had no constitutional right to enter into a civilian neighborhood and kill and burn houses, calling the activities genocide.
The statement partly read, “The soldiers who came for the mission in Awgu were killing people and speaking Fulani and Hausa languages. They were carefully handpicked by their sponsors for the wicked genocide mission.
“We are very aware that the plot to annihilate Ndigbo for the Fulanis to take over Igboland is because the South-East region is predominantly Christian. It is sad that such genocide is happening in a supposed democratic administration where the rule of law, right to life and fundamental human rights are meant to be respected by the government.
“We demand an independent panel of inquiry into the genocide committed by Nigerian soldiers in Isi-Ngwu community and the massive destruction of houses. The soldiers that carried out the burning and killings must be fished out and tried for committing war crime against the people.”
The Director of Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, did not take his calls or respond to a text message sent to his line as of the time of filing this report.
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