Several houses have reportedly been burnt, and many injured in a communal clash between Urum and Achala communities in the Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra State on Monday.
WE4WE REPORTS gathered that residents have deserted the two communities as a result of the clash.
A leader in Urum who spoke with our correspondent but pleaded not to be mentioned blamed the state government for treating the people of Achalla with a kid’s gloves on the matter.
He said, “Each time these people ( Achalla) will attack us and destroy our houses and the state government will not do anything about it.
“Is government waiting until when we are wiped out before it will intervene?”
Our correspondent gathered that the office of the deputy governor of the state had held meetings with the stakeholders of the two areas and asked them to maintain peace, assuring them that the government would handle the situation.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Haruna Mohammed, who confirmed the incident to our correspondent said the Commissioner of Police in the state, John Abang, had said the continuous destruction of properties by the communities would no longer be tolerated.
He said the CP had on many occasions intervened and asked the disputing parties to seek legal solutions to the crises.
Mohammed said, “There was a distress call that some youths allegedly from Achalla invaded Urum community with offensive weapons and razed down three buildings, damaged other buildings by destroying windows and other structures.
“Following the distress call, the command quickly dispatched joint police teams comprising PMF/SARS and other conventional units led by the Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, David Iloyanomon.
“Situation was brought under control, while the joint patrol is still ongoing to restore normalcy in the affected areas.
“Extent of damage and injuries sustained have not yet been ascertained but the Commissioner of Police, John Abang, has directed the DC State CID Awka to carry out a discreet investigation in order to ascertain circumstances surrounding the incident and bring the perpetrators to book.”