Thousands of people displaced in the sectarian crisis in Anambra State are still in camps in Onitsha and Asaba vowing not to return unless their security is assured.

In separate interviews with Daily Trust, leaders of the Hausa and Yoruba communities said their homes were destroyed during the crisis.

The Sarkin Hausawa of Onitsha, Alhaji Iliyasu Yushau, said though his house in Onitsha was not destroyed, his properties were looted and the house vandalized.

"They could not burn my house because it will affect the houses of some senior Igbo citizens whose houses are bordering mine. They have however removed every important thing from the house and my adjoining office. The documents that will not be important to them were set ablaze. I and my family escaped with just the dresses we were putting on," he said.

Alhaji Iliyasu Yushau said two visiting Islamic scholars from Kano who were his guests "were brutally killed. They used axe and cutlass to cut them down."

The leader of the Yoruba community and chairman, Anambra State Muslims Council, Alhaji Sabo Zubairu, said his house was looted, burnt and later demolished by the attackers, adding, "they knew I was not an Hausaman. They attacked me because I am a Muslim and was harbouring some Muslims."

He said two of his children were severely injured during the attack, explaining that he has resolved to return to his hometown because his investments have been destroyed.

Speaking on behalf of the Muslim community, the Chief Imam of Asaba, Alhaji Rabiu Haruna said "as at today, Anambra State is not conducive for any northerner and especially the Muslims to live in. We have just held a meeting at the army barracks and reviewed the security situation. There is no security in Onitsha. Our people cannot go back to the town."

He gave the improvement of security as a pre-condition for the return of northerners to Onitsha, adding that they will not rely on the police whom he accused of being unable to stop the killings.

"Again, another thing worrying us so much which must be addressed before anybody can even talk of returning is the role of Governor Ngige in the burning of dead bodies.

After the killings, I went in a convoy from Asaba to recover the dead bodies but mobile policemen in Onitsha said Governor Ngige had warned that the corpses must not be released to us.

"By the next day, the same corpses in their hundreds were seen being burnt by the attackers. I phoned the director of SSS (State Security Services) of Anambra who promised he was going to see the governor on our behalf and demand the release of the bodies. Until Ngige is able to prove otherwise, we shall hold him responsible for the burning of the corpses," he said.

As at yesterday, the displaced were at the Onitsha army barracks, central police station in Awka, the Anambra State capital and the mobile police barracks in Asaba, Delta State.

Commenting earlier, the state commissioner for information, Mr. Charles Chukwudum Amilo, said Governor Ngige has appealed to the displaced persons not to return to the north for fear of reprisal attacks.

He said the governor has promised to set up a judicial panel of inquiry and assured that compensation will be paid to those who lost their properties.

Meanwhile, Governor Chris Ngige of Anambra State yesterday ordered the release of 55 corpses to the Hausa Muslim community for burial but warned that the corpses must not be allowed to be transferred outside Anambra.

The corpses were those of northerners killed in the state during the two-day reprisal attacks following religious crises in Borno and Bauchi States that allegedly claimed the lives of some Igbo people.

Speaking exclusively to Daily Trust, Alhaji Rabiu Haruna, the Chief Imam of Asaba and a member of the council of Islamic scholars who received the corpses from the Anambra state government, said all the corpses were buried yesterday at the Onitsha army barracks cemetery.

The remains of the victims were escorted to the barracks amidst tight security.

Some of the bodies were disfigured beyond recognition. Children, widows, relations and friends have succeeded in recognizing the corpses of their parents or relation.

The corpses were conveyed to the barracks in trucks and received by thousands of Hausa refugees led by the leaders of the Hausa and Yoruba communities in Onitsha, Alhaji Iliyasu Yusha'u and Kabiyesi (Alhaji) Sabo Zubairu, respectively.

Thousands of women and children recited verses from the Holy Qur'an as the corpses were lowered from the trucks by soldiers led by the Brigade Commander who pacified the bereaved who broke down in tears at the sight of the corpses.

In his address to the refugees shortly after the arrival of the corpses, the leader of the Yoruba community and state chairman of the Muslim Council of Nigeria, Alhaji Sabo Zubairu, urged them to pray for the repose of the souls of the deceased.

"God knows we are innocent. He knows we have not shed the blood of anybody. We were innocently attacked, killed and brutalized. Hundreds of others killed, had their corpses burnt on the streets. Hundreds of others were brutally killed and dumped in ditches, wells and the River Niger. We shall all assemble before the creator one day and account for our deeds. That day, they will say what wrong we have done to them!

"Some people killed some innocent souls somewhere and they feel the best way they will appease the Gods for what happened is to come and kill us. There is no religion or acceptable tradition in the world that accepts this. We shall fight for our right here on earth and in the hereafter until the wrong is righted," he said.

Earlier, the Anambra State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Charles Chukwudum Amilo, said that the state government was yet to know the exact number of people killed in the crises and that efforts are still being made to determine the figures.

However, he said as at the second day of the crises in the state, health workers had succeeded in recovering over 80 corpses from the streets and that more were still being collected.

He said the state was aware of claims that several other dead bodies were either burnt by the attackers or dumped in the River Niger.

He assured that all the corpses so far recovered and kept in the mortuary by the state government will be handed over to the northern community for burial.

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