Six children have been killed in an attack on a community in Anambra State.
The children, all under 10 years old, were killed during an attack on a Fulani community in Oba, Idemili Local Government Area.
Residents said the attack was carried out by suspected members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB), amid escalating ethnic tensions in Nigeria.
Members of the community told PREMIUM TIMES they would not retaliate as they are trusting the security authorities to deliver justice to them, with the host community and state assuring of solidarity and assistance.
The attack happened on Tuesday evening but the facts were slow to emerge and PREMIUM TIMES just confirmed on Thursday evening.
Horrific photographs obtained by PREMIUM TIMES show the deceased children savagely macheted and one said to be just one-year-old, burnt.
Also, the background of the photographs shows razed homes. The impact of the attack suggests children were targeted or that they were only killed because elderly members of the community were absent at the time attack was carried out.
PREMIUM TIMES also obtained a short video showing the remains of the children wrapped in white cloths ready after they were washed and before internment according to Islamic tradition.
Following the attack, the community is now displaced.
Surviving victims are now taking refuge inside the army barrack in Onitsha, the patriarch of the community, Dogo Isa, army sources, and Mahmud Imam, who has seen the displaced persons, told PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday.
All the six children were buried inside the barrack, Mr Isa said, a claim corroborated by other sources. Mr Isa said the oldest of the slain children was six-year-old.
The police spokesperson for the state, Haruna Mohammed, said he was not aware of the attack.
(Premium Times)
