At least 50 persons may have been abducted while over 300 injured following a brutal communal clash between Omor and Umunbo villages in Ayamelum Local Government Area of Anambra State.
Some of the injured were said to have been shot, while others had machete cuts.
The communities have been at loggerheads over a piece of land for ages.
The Nation gathered that the squabble, which started during last dry season, was initially quelled before it snowballed into a major crises.
A resident of the area who preferred anonymity, said “Some appreciable number of houses, shops and rice mills belonging to Umumbo community were torched in the clash.
“People ran away from their houses for fear of being killed as both communities pushed toward each other in confrontation.”
The Nation further learnt that as the time police was drafted to the area, no fewer than 50 persons were missing as a result of the revenge mission.
The state government has reacted with “profound sadness to the conflict between the people” of both communities.
A statement released by Information Commissioner, C. Don Adinuba read, “Security agents drawn from the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Army and the National Security and Civil Defence Corps have since been drafted to the scene to stabilise the situation and maintain law and order.”
The statement added that perpetrators of the violence will be arrested and “made to feel the full weight of the law”.
