The development has triggered fresh concerns that the community could witness a crisis similar to the violent clashes that devastated parts of Orlu in Imo State in 2021, where confrontations between security forces and armed groups displaced thousands of residents and destroyed property.
Residents of Imezi Owa in Ezeagu Local Government Area of Enugu State have reportedly begun fleeing their homes amid growing fears of an impending military operation following a warning allegedly issued by the Eastern Security Network (ESN) and claims of repeated harassment by soldiers.
The development has triggered fresh concerns that the community could witness a crisis similar to the violent clashes that devastated parts of Orlu in Imo State in 2021, where confrontations between security forces and armed groups displaced thousands of residents and destroyed property.
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and councillorship candidate for Imezi-Owa Ward 11, Linus Obiora Madukaife, has appealed to all parties to avoid turning the agrarian community into what he described as "another battlefield.
In a statement titled "Imezi Owa Must Not Become Another Orlu," Madukaife said reports that ESN had warned residents to vacate the community over fears of a confrontation with the Nigerian military should alarm every indigene of the community.
