RAPHAEL EDE reveals the harrowing reality in the Obeagu community, in the Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, where neglect and the absence of an access road have left residents vulnerable to relentless herdsmen attacks. This forsaken community endures frequent killings and abductions with no security intervention, highlighting a severe lack of government presence and support. The lack of government presence and security has created a culture of impunity, allowing herdsmen to invade and terrorise the Obeagu community at will, leaving residents in a state of constant fear and displacement.
Investigation shows that once it is 4 pm, outsiders hardly go in or out of the community for fear of being kidnapped by herdsmen on the dilapidated and deplorable access road that stretches about 6km leading to the community. For the residents of Obeagu Community in Ishielu Local Government Area, Ebonyi State, life is harsh and unrelenting. Their daily existence mirrors the Hobbesian state of nature, characterised by constant struggle and a brutal fight for survival.
Obeagu, a boundary community of Ebonyi State with Enugu State, boasting of over 10,000 population, has no access road, or health facility, either owned by the government or private, no potable water, dysfunctional primary and secondary schools and no electricity. Located on the Enugu-Nkalagu-Egedegede-Eha-Amufu-Ikem-Obollo-Afor Road, the community can only be accessed through Egedegede, immediately after Nigercem junc.