Ezillo Murder: Elechi vows to fish out culprits

Governor MartinElechi of EbonyiState has assured the people that the government will find the perpetrators of the massacre of 52 persons in Ezillo community on Saturday.In a broadcast tagged: 'That Evil May Not Endure,'in Abakaliki on Sunday, Elechi described the tragedy at Ezillo community as negative to the image and corporate status of Ebonyi.'As Ezillo burns and Ebonyi people mourn, I want to assure our people and all Nigerians that the state government will stop at nothing to fish out the perpetrators of this dastardly act.'The bloodletting there is a threat to the collective existence of Ebonyi people, I, therefore, call for the collective resolve of the Ebonyi people to overcome evil.'The Saturday morning brutal mass murder of scores of indigenes of Ezillo community in Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi is a resurgence of the Ezza-Ezillo communal crisis.'Reports at my disposal indicate that the enemies of peace invaded Ezillo in the early hours of Saturday and murdered men, women and children who had no link with the tragedy that befell them.'That was not all. The Ezillo market was burnt, shops razed, vehicles burnt and property destroyed.'The shock waves sent by the latest incident are not only because of the wantonness of the destruction, but also because it came at a time when Ebonyi people and other Nigerians thought that peace had returned to Ezillo.'We shall not shirk in our responsibility to protect lives and property everywhere in the state. We all feel the pains of the bereaved families and we all share their grief.''Meanwhile, the governor has directed the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to undertake an urgent assessment of the situation.He said the measure would assist in the state government intervention to bring relief to the affected persons.He expressed his condolences to the bereaved families and promised that the state government would not abandon them to their plight.Elechi also assured the people that security agencies had been given firm orders to take all necessary steps to clear the Abakaliki-Enugu Federal Highway of blockades to ensure the normal flow of traffic.The Abakaliki-Enugu Expressway cuts through Ezillo community, located 40km North-East of Abakaliki, a situation that brings about the closure of the road each time the recurring communal conflict starts.The situation forces motorists to take laborious and dangerous alternative routes.Fifty-two bodies were recovered on Saturday when the governor and the commissioner of police visited the scene of the crisis. (NAN)
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