A 35-year old labourer in Awka, Anambra State, has survived a brutal attack by herdsmen in one of the secondary schools in the state.

The victim, Patrick Nnabuchi, who hailed from Eha Amufu in Enugu State, but resides in Awka, was said to be working in the school premises when he was allegedly attacked.

Narrating his ordeal to reporters in Awka, Nnabuchi said he was attacked for challenging the herdsmen against grazing on the vegetable farm in the school.

He said he was taken unawares by the herdsmen who attacked him from behind with a machete tied to a stick.

He said: “I was engaged by the school management to carry out some construction work in the school and was doing the work when the incident took place.

“When I saw the cows trespassing on the farm and grazing on people’s farmland, I asked them to pursue them from grazing on the vegetables.

“It was not long after I walked away from the scene when one of them ran after me and hit me on the head from behind.

“Before a security man in the school and one other person could rush to the scene, the attackers had jumped into the erosion site within the area.”

Nnabuchi said he was unable to run after his attacker because he was unconscious for a while, adding that they disappeared through the gully erosion near the school before some people came to his rescue and later rushed him to a nearby hospital where he spent three days receiving medical attention.

The state police public relations officer, PPRO, Mr. Haruna Mohammed, however, said no such case was reported to the command.

The victim’s landlord, Mr. Nwama Ibe, while condemning the action, said the issue of Fulani herdsmen had become worrisome one in the state.

According to him, there was need to re-enact the 1960 anti animal roaming law, which operated in the defunct Eastern Region to control the activities of the menacing herdsmen in the region.

“The Southeast governors should enforce the law in the zone, to avoid such clashes,” he further said.