Residents of Ukpata say farmlands and homes are no longer safe after armed men suspected to be Fulani Ethnic Militia fighters killed a 28‑year‑old farmer and wounded several others.
By Ebere Inyama
ENUGU, Nigeria — The killing of 28‑year‑old Christian farmer Ezechi Ekenechukwu in Enugu State has renewed fears among residents of Ukpata community that rural farming areas are becoming increasingly unsafe. Community members say armed men suspected to be Fulani Ethnic Militia (FEM), a violent extremist network responsible for severe harm and human‑rights abuses, attacked farmers on October 29, killing Ekenechukwu and injuring several others in an assault that has intensified calls for stronger security measures. The attack highlights a strategy to destroy or degrade the local food supplies to speed conquest.
Ekenechukwu was reportedly attacked and killed while several others were wounded when armed Fulani militants invaded the Ukpata community farmland on 29 October, 2026.
The incident took place barely four months after residents of Ukpata community embarked on a peaceful protest over the worsening security situation in Uzo – Uwani county.
“Our concern is not just the lives that have been lost to these Fulani herdsmen so far”, said a resident of Uzo-Uwani county who identified himself as ‘ Ogbuke’, to TruthNigeria. “Our farmlands and our ancestral homes are no longer safe.”
“These Fulani herdsmen bring their cattle to graze on our crops and sometimes, they molest our women in the farms”, Ogbuke added.
No statement from the Police
One week after the killing of 28-yr-old Ezechi Ekenechukwu, the Nigerian Police have not issued a statement to the public.
Efforts by TruthNigeria to get a reaction from the Enugu State Police Command were unsuccessful as the Command’s spokesperson, SP Daniel Ndukwe, neither answered phone calls placed to him nor responded to a text message seeking comments on the attack.
Residents call for action
Following a condolence visit to the victims’ families in Ukpata community on 1 November, 2026, by the Chairman of Uzo-uwani Local Government Area (county), Mr. Chijioke Joseph Ezugwu, some residents of the Ukpata community have pushed back on political condolences, demanding immediate arrests, and long-term structural security measures to guarantee that rural farmers can safely return to their farms.
“We have witnessed a lot of condolence visits in the past 10 years arising from the killing of our people by the Fulani herdsmen”, said Ogbuke while responding to questions from TruthNigeria. “What we need at this time is adequate security of our farms and homes rather than promises.”
Activist expresses concern
In a report published via his x handle on 2 November, 2026, and titled “When Ancestral Homes Become Killing Fields,” a Human Rights lawyer, Mr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor, condemned the killing of Ekenechukwu and criticized the state government for focusing on political activities while rural communities remain exposed to violence.
“While political permutations and electoral calculations were receiving elaborate attention, the ancestral homeland of Ukpata community in Uzo Uwani LGA of Enugu state was being subjected to a horrific bloodbath”, Ejiofor wrote in the report.
“More troubling still, no arrests have reportedly been made, even as casualty figures continue to emerge and ominous threats of further attacks reportedly hang over the community”, the report continued.
“The Enugu forest guards must be reinforced with more sophisticated operational equipment, intelligence-driven security interventions and decisive government action. They cannot be expected to confront an increasingly emboldened and heavily armed adversary with inadequate resources,” Ejiofor added in the report.
Grassroots outcry
Operating within civil society networks, local activists and the victims’ relations have launched campaigns on social media using hashtags such as #JusticeForEkele and #JusticeForFarmers, while community residents expressed deep frustration over the lack of arrests following the murder. According to them, they are afraid not just because their member was killed in cold blood, but because they can no longer access their farmlands without facing existential threats.
Economic cost of the violence
“In the last four years, armed Fulani militants have continued to terrorize and kidnap commuters travelling from Ukpata community to other parts of Enugu state with many of them being killed”, according to a report published in August, 2026 by Within Nigeria.
Despite the establishment of a Distress Rapid Squad (DRS) by the Enugu state government a year ago to provide security for the local communities, the security situation on the highways and in the farmlands in Uzo Uwani county has reportedly not improved.
Residents of Ukpata community complain that the armed DRS charge passengers a compulsory fee of ₦ 1,000 (¢73) each before they would escort the buses conveying them from the motor park to nearby communities. This practice has increased the financial burden on transportation for the residents who were already groaning under the high transport fares caused by the present increase in the price of petrol, according to the report.
A call for ‘National Emergency’
While the federal government of Nigeria is making an effort to tackle the ongoing attacks on rural farmers through localized military deployments and sweeping anti-terror laws, civil society organizations, community elders and human rights watchdogs continue to demand a formal declaration of a State of Emergency regarding food security and displacement of rural farmers.
The displacement of hundreds of thousands of farmers in Benue, Plateau, and Kaduna states have severely crippled agricultural output, turning a physical security crisis into a severe economic and humanitarian emergency.
Ebere Inyama reports for TruthNigeria on conflict and religious freedom.
