Tears as Delta community reburies exhumed bodies

TRACKING_____The 10 exhumed bodies of farmers reportedly killed by herdsmen in Uwheru Kingdom, Ughelli North council area of Delta state, were on Thursday, finally laid to rest.The ceremony, which was conducted amidst tears and curses, took place in Agadama, one of the affected communities.
The deceased were laid in white caskets while a brief Christian service was held in their honour.Nine were buried in a central tomb built for the victims few metres away from the Agadama Secondary School while one of the deceased, who hailed from Ofoni, an Urhobo community in Bayelsa State, was taken home after the service for burial.Dozens of sympathisers, including youths, were said to have crowded the Ughelli Central Hospital morgue, where the victims had been deposited for autopsy analysis.The autopsy, which affirmed that they were shot dead by herdsmen, was reportedly conducted on the bodies at about 10:45am.
Persons suspected to be herdsmen had attacked five communities in Uwheru kingdom mid February, killing and burning 10 farmers in the shallow graves.Among the victims buried were Dennis Itoje, Philip Emesharueke, Arhiakpore Steven, Oghenekparobo Emmanuel, Andrew Itiroghene Useh, Ochuko Ovwanre, Samson Coach Ogheneoruese, Kotor Boy, Abura Ejuweyere and Freeborn Isreal.
A delegation of the apex socio-cultural body of the Urhobo people worldwide, Urhobo Progress Union (UPU), attended the ceremony.The people of the kingdom took swipes on the Federal government and security agencies for treating herdsmen attacks on their communities lightly.
Commissioner for Higher Education, Prof Patrick Muoboghare, decried the killing of the victims by herdsmen, stating that their kinsmen can no longer go to their farm lands owing to the onslaught.According to him, the arm-wielding herdsmen, who killed the deceased farmers were Fulani herdsmen from Mali, Chad and other parts of Africa.He urged the Federal Government to ensure that the herdsmen were evacuated from their communities to enable their farmers return to their means of livelihood.