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Chairman of Ado Local Government Area in Benue State, Â Mr.James Oche, says the government and people of Ebonyi State, should stop pointing fingers at the people of Agila community of Benue State as being responsible for the attacks on Ngbo communities of Ebonyi State in the early hours of Monday, saying they have no hand in the incident.
He said reports in  section of the media credited to the Ebonyi State Government alleging that the people of Agila are behind the attack when they had already identified their attackers as Fulani herdsmen, was the “peak of falsehood”.
The Ebonyi State Government through the deputy governor, Dr. Kelechi Igwe, had earlier issued a statement which was made available to Journalists in Abakilike, saying herdsmen had attacked Umuogudu Akpu -Ngbo Community in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of the State at the early hours of Monday.
However, hours later, the deputy governor made a U-turn, alleging that the attackers were gunmen from Agila community of Benue State, not herdsmen.
Reacting to the development, chairman of Ado local council, James Oche, said, the victims of the purported attack had confirmed that their attackers were herders, and wondered why the Ebonyi State Government was bent on accusing the people of Agila community amidst rumours making the rounds that the attack was a reprisal for the alleged killing of their cows.
In a statement he issued in Igumale, headquarters of Ado Local Government Council, the chairman said he was dismayed by a report in the media in which the Ebonyi State Government fingered the people of Agila as being responsible for the attack.
“The people of Agila are peace loving people and have since embraced the recommendations of the Otse Otokpa/Cyril Obazi Agila/Ngbo Intercommunity Peace and Security Committee formed by the governments of Ebonyi and Benue States and have been cooperating with the National Boundary Commission on the planned delimitation and rebeaconing exercise scheduled to hold within the axis.
“So, falsehood and complicity of allegations cannot be the solution to the problem but would deteriorate the already tensed situation. I therefore urge the two parties involved  to present facts for the interest of peace and the security of the areas” Oche said.
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