Many people were feared dead, while no fewer than 300 farmers sustained various degrees of injuries and property worth millions of naira destroyed following a clash between the people of Umumbo and their Omor neighbours in Ayamelum Local Government Area of Anambra State.
It was not clear what prompted the latest incident, although Vanguard recalls that the two communities had over the years been involved in a protracted land dispute that had claimed several lives in the past.
At press time, it was gathered that about 50 persons allegedly abducted during the bloody clash were still missing.
A large number of houses, shops and rice mills belonging to Umumbo community were also destroyed.
The speaker of Anambra State House of Assembly, Mr Uche Okafor, who represents the constituency in the state legislature, was accompanied by heavily armed military and mobile policemen to quell the bloody clash.
In Makurdi, a statement by the Chief Press Secretary, CPS, to the Governor, Terver Akase, said “the identity of the late man was confirmed this morning (yesterday) through his family by the COVID-19 Response Team. The corpse was intercepted at Jato near Aliade last night. It was that of Shangevlumun Gbaeren. Mr Gbaeren died of Coronavirus in Kano and was being taken for burial.”
“Meanwhile, Governor Samuel Ortom who after inspecting rehabilitation work at the Benue State University Teaching Hospital, BSUTH, COVID-19 isolation Centre, said he had ordered that the intercepted corpse be buried in Makurdi town.
“Ortom who also visited the 14 almajiris from Kano State recently intercepted at the Wurukum roundabout area of the Makurdi town and quarantined at the Entrepreneurship Development Centre, said “I am very worried, we have given instructions and we had course to stop corpses from Kano especially.
