A shocking incident has sparked outrage after an Ebonyi indigene, Michael Eje, was brutally assaulted and paraded by youths in Nkpor, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, for allegedly killing a snake regarded as sacred in the community.
Eje, a native of Onueke in Ezza South Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, said he killed the reptile in self-defence while working at a construction site where it had lunged at him from beneath a pile of old blocks.
The development provoked an uproar among locals who accused him of desecrating their tradition. Viral footage showed him being beaten, ridiculed, and forced to chant dirges for the snake while being paraded through the streets. He was later fined ₦50,000.
Condemning the attack, Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Peter Onyekachi Nwebonyi, described the assault as “barbaric, dehumanising, and unacceptable in a civilised society.”
“I wonder why a man should be subjected to such a harrowing experience for killing a snake that posed a threat to him,” the lawmaker representing Ebonyi North said.
Nwebonyi urged Anambra State Governor, Prof. Charles Soludo, to take decisive action and ensure such incidents never recur, stressing that the protection of human dignity should come before the preservation of tradition.
He also tasked the Chairman of Ebonyi Indigenes Association in Anambra, Chief Moses Ofoke, to obtain firsthand details from Eje and his family for necessary intervention.
Narrating his ordeal, Eje said neither he nor his employers had any prior knowledge that killing a snake was considered an abomination in the area. He called on the authorities to protect the rights of non-indigenes living and working in Anambra communities.
Grateful for the senator’s swift response, Eje and his wife appealed for justice, saying the trauma of the assault left them humiliated and fearful for their safety.
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