Enugu Youth Coalition (EYC) has denied media reports that herdsmen are responsible for killing a pregnant woman in the state.
The story perused by TODAY POLITICS said the heavy woman was attacked while returning from the farm. Her womb was reportedly opened and her unborn child removed.
The attack is coming weeks after religious clerics were murdered in the state by suspected herdsmen.
Denying herdsmen are responsible for the attack is Edwin Obune, who heads the EYC and expressed dismay over the attack attributed to herdsmen.
Mr Obune said the crime should not be attributed to herdsmen because authorities were yet to identify the perpetrators of the act.
“I want to condemn whatever circumstances that might have led to the incidence in Nchatancha Nike in Enugu East Local Government Area of the state, but then I take exception in the claim that herdsmen were responsible for the action when the identity of the killer (s) have not been established by any authority in the state,” the leader of the youth group said in a statement he made available to reporters.
“Again, while I condemn the unfortunate incident in it’s entirety, I also condemn the Punch Newspaper reporter for being sensational in his reportage by not conducting proper investigation to ascertain the identity of those behind the crime nor waited for the state Police Command to establish the identity of the killer (s) before publishing it to the reading public.
“I strongly believe, the reporter played to the gallery in his report. What stops him from using words like ‘unknown gunmen’ instead of herdsmen until the identity of the killer or killers are known?
“What if the account of the police becomes different, whereas he has already made Nigerians to believe that herdsmen were responsible for the crime?
“Just as the identity of the victim was not known, neither was the identity of the killer(s) known also.
“Therefore, rushing to report the story without investigation will make Nigerians to suspect whether the Punch Newspaper correspondent in the state is on the payroll of those who have sworn to demarket the state and make it unpopular to investors.
“More so, a content analysis of all his reports from the state since this year shows that he has biased mind against the Government, the Fulanis and the peace-loving people of Enugu State.
“I’m also aware of the sustained efforts by some failed politicians from the state to use ethnic profiling against the Fulanis in the state to settle political scores and incite the people against the government without minding the collateral damage such an action would cause to the state and it’s people in the future.
“Finally, while I strongly condemn the killing, I urge Nigerians not to believe the report until the identity of the perpetrators of the crime are fully established by relevant authority,” Mr Obune added.
Meanwhile, Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has said miscreants from the area also contribute to spike insecurity in the geo-political zone.
