Two herdsmen escaped being lynched to death last week after they allegedly used their swords to chop off one of the ears of a 19-year-old boy (names withheld) at Azuoagbagu village in Nkalagu, Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
According to information from Vanguard, the incident took place in the victim’s family rice farm in the area.
An eye witness revealed that the victim and his mother were busy harvesting their rice when the herdsmen reared their cattles into their farm.
“The boy shouted on them to remove their animals from their farm produce as the cows were already making a mess of their harvest. In anger, the cattle rearers drew their swords with the intention of beheading the boy but missed and chopped off the boy’s right ear.
“The victim’s mother, Mrs. Eucharia Otubo, who came in defence of her son also got a deep cut on her hands by the herdsmen,” the witness said.
It was gathered that when the victims raised alarm, youths in the area rounded up the herdsmen and as they made effort to carry out a mob action against the suspects, they were prevented by an immigration officer (names withheld) who had returned home for the holiday.
As tension heightened in the area, men and officers attached to the Ishielu Police Division arrived the scene and promptly took the suspects to the station.
The herdsmen pleaded guilty while in custody but insisted that the actual suspect behind the act had fled before the arrival of the youths.
The herdsmen, according to report have helped in the arrest of 6 more suspects in connection with the dastardly act.
