Residents of Esu, a village in Menchum Division, North West Region remain in fear for their lives. This is as a result of a military operation in the village hours ago.
A source in the area revealed that soldiers based in Esu had visited an area some 30KM away from where separatist fighters were said to have occupied a hospital.
“When they got there, there was nobody in the hospital but they saw some old guns,” the source explains.
“They took out the guns and mattresses and burnt with everything they could find… They also arrested civilians on their way back to Esu,” he adds.
The soldiers would later release some of the civilians: “They killed two civilians, dug a place and buried them there.”
The recent Esu killings add to those of thousands either killed arbitrarily, burnt in their homes or caught in the crossfire between separatist fighters and government forces.
Up till last week, however, the state maintains that its soldiers have been patriotic and have not harmed civilians in the regions, calling the Ngarbuh massacre an isolated incident.
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Mimi Mefo Info
